Coming Home To You
by LarielRomeniel
Summary: The Legends bring Leo home to Ray, and get a surprise of their own. Follow-up to "Opening The Box." ColdRay, CaptainCanary, fix-it (hey, it's me; what do you expect?).
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was supposed to just be a bit of fluff of how Leo might make things up to Ray. Then it got a bit out of control. Many thanks to Jael for the beta!

* * *

General Schott squinted at the wormhole forming in the middle of the Resistance settlement. "Steady, everyone!" he cautioned the gunners aiming their weapons at it. "Let's wait for the code. We don't want to shoot down our allies and start an interdimensional war. We've got enough to deal with, mopping up the Nazis!"

"Got a signal coming through, General!" shouted a comms tech as he tapped furiously at his tablet. "The code checks out - it's from Earth-1!"

There was an audible _whoosh_ of relief from the Resistance fighters as they lowered their weapons. "Send the countersign!" Schott ordered.

The tech nodded, his fingers flying over the tablet. Then Citizen Cold strode through the breach, holstering his gun and nodding to his comrades. "Take it easy, General. I'm still a friendly. And speaking of friendlies…"

More people followed Snart through the breach, each carrying a small metallic case. Schott recognized some of the Earth-1 heroes who'd helped turn the tide for the Resistance.

"Leo's back!"

Schott couldn't keep from grinning as the children dashed from their hiding places to mob Snart. He got down on one knee and opened his arms to them, giving back as many hugs and kisses as he got.

The blond woman at the head of the Earth-1 group watched Leo for a moment with a bemused expression, then turned to Schott. "Merry Christmas, General," she said. "How goes the Resistance?"

"You missed Christmas by a little bit, Captain… Lance, isn't it?" Schott replied, reaching out to shake her hand. "We've made a lot of progress since you and your friends took out the General and the Fuhrer, but there are still too many people who are afraid to turn away from the Reich. They think it's the only thing preventing economic collapse and worldwide starvation."

"We may have an answer for that, General," Snart drawled, rising again with little Talia in his arms. "But first... what have you done with my boyfriend?"

"I sent him with the other Freedom Fighters to clear out a Reichsmen nest in Hub City," Schott answered. He held up a finger at Snart's disappointed look. "But we've made it S.O.P. to notify them whenever a breach opens and…"

 _"LEO!"_

Terrill must have set a new air speed record, Schott mused as he watched The Ray land and pull off his helmet. Terrill sketched a quick salute and reported, "The rest of the team is en route, General," before turning to Snart with a semi-stern look.

"I told you I was coming home to you," Snart said as he gently set Talia back down.

"Well, it took you long enough!" Terrill mock-scolded.

"Let me make it up to you?" Snart asked. It was a question Schott had heard him ask before, but this time there wasn't any trace of the seductive drawl that usually went along with it. Instead, it was soft and a bit apologetic.

The sternness fell away from Terrill's face. "Okay," he said quietly, with a nod. Then the two men fell into each other's arms.

Schott turned back to Lance to see her watching the other men with a smirk. She met his eyes. "Leo doesn't waste any time in making up with Ray, does he?"

Schott didn't quite smirk back. "We've all learned not to waste time when it comes to the ones we love," he answered. "So what brings all of you back to this corner of the multiverse?"

"Leo wanted to bring some souvenirs back from Earth-1, and we offered to help play Santa," she answered, pointing to the row of cases she and her team had set down on the ground. "Ray, would you do the honors?"

"Sure!" A tall, dark-haired man nodded and, with a huge smile, held up a device, pointing it toward the cases. He pushed a button and the cases… _grew,_ about ten times larger. Schott felt his eyebrows go up in surprise.

Earth-1's Ray chuckled. "You know, I could probably make a fortune with this resizing ray. Well, another fortune. Figured this was easier than using a forklift for all this stuff."

"All this… what is this?" Schott asked.

"Thought I'd bring home a little Christmas cheer," Snart said, finally disentangling himself from Terrill. He reached into his parka and pulled out a computer drive, handing it to Schott. "Starting with this. The art and literature of a non-oppressed world, General. Consider that a bit of hope."

Snart moved to open one of the cases and pulled out a fuzzy blue… _thing._ He knelt down again and beckoned to Talia before rubbing the toy's middle. The thing giggled and said, _"Beebo loves you."_

"That is a bit of comfort," Snart said, rising again while Talia cuddled the toy. Some of Sara's crew began distributing more toys to the children who were now crowding around them. Then, with a smirk at Terrill, he opened yet another case. "And this is a bit of joy," he finished, pulling out a blue and white plastic bag and waggling it.

"No way!" Terrill exclaimed in delight, grabbing the bag and staring at it as if it was something precious.

"And that's not all," Snart purred, jerking a thumb over at the case. "Take a look."

Terrill's eyes widened as he looked inside. "Whoa. Dr. Pepper… Oreos… _Moon Pies?"_

He tossed the blue and white bag over at Schott before turning back to his boyfriend, clapping his hands on either side of Snart's face for a series of quick kisses. "You… are going… to make… me… _fat!"_

Schott rolled his eyes before glancing down at the bag Terrill had tossed at him. The words _Almond Joy_ were blazoned across it. He looked up at Lance curiously.

"Leo said Ray's always complaining about the rations you guys have, so we brought you something a bit better," she said with a smile. "It's all genuine Earth-1 junk food, not stuff from the replicator."

Schott blinked at the unfamiliar word. "Replicator?"

"A little bit of Earth-1 future tech. It can create things from matter," Lance explained, waving her hand at the toys her crew had just finished passing out. "Toys, clothes, food…"

"Fake food," grumbled the Earth-1 double of Mick Rory, in a voice far more gravelly than the one Schott remembered from their own lost fighter. "But it'll keep you alive."

"You have something that can feed your people?" Schott asked, his eyes widening.

"Well, not exactly," Lance corrected. "We do have it on the Waverider, which is from the future. But it's not standard equipment anywhere else on Earth-1… yet."

"But something like that, here, could…"

"Could eliminate need and hunger, all over Earth-X," interjected one of Lance's people. The man who could turn to steel, Schott recalled from Terrill's mission debrief. "From what Leo's told us, the Third Reich first got power here for the same reason it did on our Earth: because the Nazis claimed to have a solution to economic chaos and the food riots that resulted from the reparations Germany was ordered to pay in the Treaty of Versailles." The man - Heywood, Schott now remembered - spread his hands. "You just said people were afraid of another depression."

"A machine that makes food from matter… something like that could change everything," Schott breathed.

"That's what we thought," Heywood grinned. "So…"

"We brought you one of your own," Lance concluded, gesturing toward the last unopened case and nodding to the two women now standing on either side of it. "Amaya, Zari, show him."

The women grinned at each other and opened the case, revealing some kind of machine. "It may not look like much," one of them said.

"But what it does is pretty impressive," the other added. "I've been eating like a queen since I came on board. Think I've gained five pounds!"

"Which reminds me, Z. I'm scheduling some long-overdue sparring time with you when we get back to the ship," Lance said, grinning when the other woman groaned. Lance turned her attention back to Schott. "Now, the Time Bureau wasn't exactly keen on putting 24th-century technology on an Earth still fighting a 20th-century war," she said, rolling her eyes. "We did some arm-twisting-"

"With some help from the Council of Wells," added Heywood.

"And we finally convinced them that this would be an anachronism worth creating. The Bureau itself ended up supplying that replicator." She drew a small flash drive from her pocket. "And they sent you complete specs to build more."

She held the drive out. Schott reached out for it… and saw his hand was shaking. He looked back up at her, opening his mouth to say something - but couldn't find any words to express the hope that was suddenly flooding through him.

The dark-haired Ray… Palmer, Schott now recalled, said, "I can give your people some pointers on setting up the manufacturing. And if you need help once we've gone home…"

He reached into one of the cases and pulled out another device. "I was able to adapt the communicator Professor Stein created to talk to his family across time. This one can make calls across dimensions, without having to open a breach first. You guys blew up the breach generator here, right?"

"We did, after your people went through," Schott confirmed. "We weren't taking any chances of the Reichsmen coming back."

"Don't blame you," Palmer replied. "Anyway… I programmed this with contact information for the Waverider, Team Arrow's bunker, STAR Labs, Earth-19's Collector Command, everyone on the Council of Wells-"

"Even the Time Bureau," Lance added. "Everyone agreed that Earth-X has been going it alone for too long."

She glanced over at Snart. "Someone recently pointed out to me that that's not a good thing. You're not alone anymore, General. If you need us, call."

Schott stared at her for a moment longer, then looked around - at the cases full of offerings from Earth-1, at the children playing with their new toys, at Snart and Terrill standing arm in arm, watching him. "I'd given up on believing in miracles," he finally said slowly, letting out a stunned laugh. "But this… this is better than Christmas."

"I'd say this calls for a celebration, General. A shakedown run for our new gadget," Snart suggested, indicating the replicator. "Despite what Mick there says about the quality of the food, it's really not that bad."

Schott smiled and nodded. "Yes… yes! We're overdue!" He turned back to Captain Lance. "And it's a small way for us to thank you."

Something in the sky behind her caught his eye, and his smile grew wider. "And we may have another way to thank you as well."

The rest of the Freedom Fighters were returning. Black Condor and the newest Red Tornado had been a bit slower than The Ray, both of them burdened with passengers. Condor landed gently with Phantom Lady, but it was Red Tornado's leather-jacketed companion that made the Earth-1 visitors gasp in shock. And that companion seemed to be equally shocked, pulling down his dark goggles to stare at them with wide blue eyes.

With a chuckle, Schott told Lance, "I think we have something that belongs to you?"


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This took a bit longer than I expected. Many thanks to Jael, who took a look at the original version and made some excellent suggestions. The chapter is SO much better for it!

* * *

Sara never should have listened to Leo about opening that damned box. If she'd ignored him, then maybe her heart wouldn't be pounding quite so hard right now at the sight of yet another Leonard Snart.

His jacket looked the same as the one their Leonard had been wearing when he died, and he had a cold gun like the one their Leonard had left behind. The goggles around his neck… the same. The graying hair and piercing blue eyes… the same. All of it enough to stir up a glimmer of hope, but she shoved it back into the box.

Hope hurt too much.

Instead, she focused on what wasn't the same, starting with the just-a-bit-longer-than-scruffy salt-and-pepper beard and mustache. That was different, but not as different as the open-mouthed wonder on this man's face as he returned their shocked stares. Their Leonard had never, _never_ let anyone see when he was taken by surprise. He was always confident and controlled, right to the end.

Mick was apparently as doubtful as she was. "Not another goddamned gangbanger!" he growled next to her.

 _"Doppelgänger,"_ Leo corrected. Mick just grunted in reply.

General Schott's smile melted into a frown. "This is Leonard Snart from Earth-1. Red Tornado confirmed it," he said, nodding to the android. "Report!"

The bearded Snart held up a hand and warned, "There may be a problem with that."

The drawl was the same, too, Sara thought as Red Tornado opened its… his?...mouth… and nonsense poured out.

 _"When in the course of human events… the facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves… we shall fight on the beaches…"_ Red Tornado droned.

"Stop!" Schott ordered, and shot a questioning look at the new Snart, who shrugged. The Earth-X Ray frowned and flipped open the android's chest panel, muttering something about a communications subsystem getting crossed with historical databanks.

"Red took a hit over in Hub City. Seems to have a glitch now," the new Snart said. "But in any case, they have reason to give me a... _chilly_ reception."

And there was the smirk, a bit strange on an unshaven face yet still painfully familiar, with that same satisfaction with his own cleverness. But it was an expression she'd seen on Leo's face too. For all she knew, all the Leonard Snarts in the multiverse could be self-satisfied jerks.

Ray let out a huff of disbelieving laughter. "Well, he's got the cold puns down."

There was a sudden, incongruous giggle. _"Beebo wants to play!"_

Some of the children had stopped playing with their new toys in favor of watching the unfolding drama. The little girl with the Beebo asked, "Is Mr. Lenny in trouble?"

And there was another difference. This new Snart got on one knee and looked at the child with the gentle expression Sara had seen so often on Leo, but never on their Leonard. "It's going to be okay, Squirt," he said in a kind, quiet tone she thought their Snart would have scoffed at.

 _He does have a younger sister,_ that glimmer of hope reminded her.

She told it to shut up and slammed the box closed again.

Schott smiled down at the little girl. "He's not in trouble with me, Talia," he answered. "Go and play, okay?"

After getting a nod from "Mr. Lenny," the little girl skipped off. Schott watched her go, then turned his gaze to Sara.

"General, I know we seem…" She paused, looking for words.

"Ungrateful?" Schott asked.

"Suspicious?" Leo's boyfriend added.

"And maybe just a bit angry?" Leo asked, looking back and forth between his double and Mick.

Sara gave them a conceding nod, then turned to… _Snart,_ she decided. "No matter which version of Leonard Snart you are, you're right. We've been… hurt before by someone wearing that face. I don't mean you, Leo," she said, glancing over at him as he opened his mouth to protest. "This is another one of those things we never got around to telling you about."

Schott harrumphed. "Terrill, you and Snart… your Snart... sort this out, someplace private," he ordered, before turning to the Snart in the leather jacket. "Cold, I don't know what happened between you and these people, but you've already proven yourself to me, more than once. So if they don't want you, there's a place for you in my ranks."

"Appreciate it, General," Snart replied.

Schott nodded at him, then looked over at the other Earth-X heroes. "Knight, Trujillo, you're with me for a debrief," he said to the winged man and the woman in the green cloak. Then he tossed the bag of candy bars back to Leo's Ray. "Terrill, I want your report first thing in the morning." At Leo's groan of protest, Schott amended, "All right, noon. I know you need your _time_ ," he said, rolling his eyes before turning his attention to Sara. "One more thing. Captain Lance, can some of your people help mine with the replicator?"

"I can do it," Zari volunteered.

Sara nodded. "Nate, Amaya, you two help Zari. Mick, Ray, with me," she ordered, choosing the two teammates who'd known the Leonard Snart they'd lost and who could help her determine if this familiar stranger was really him.

Just in case hope was clouding her judgment.

"Let's take this to the computer lab," Terrill suggested. "I can recalibrate Red Tornado."

He led them to a small Quonset hut. As they walked, Leo kept casting oblique glances at his doppelgänger, who responded with a raised eyebrow. "Is there a problem?" the newcomer asked, just a bit sharply.

"Sorry," Leo apologized. "Just a little freaked out about seeing my face with a beard. But at least everybody can tell us apart."

Terrill shot a sheepish look at him as he opened the door to the hut and ushered them in. "Uh, about that, Leo… he didn't have the beard when we found him in Central City about a month ago… so… I thought he was you and… uh… I kissed him." He threw his hands up placatingly. "He slugged me right after!"

Leo's eyes widened at that admission. Sara smirked and murmured, "Pot, meet kettle."

That got her a curious look from Terrill...and from Snart. She shrugged and said, "Later. First, let's sort out just which Leonard Snart you've got here. What makes Red Tornado think he's from Earth-1?"

Terrill answered while he began plugging the now powered-down android into a computer system. "Every Earth in the multiverse resonates at a different frequency. And so do all the people on it."

"Oh! Cisco told me about this!" Ray exclaimed. "It's how Team Flash tracked Zoom and his metahuman minions."

 _"Zoom?"_ Snart asked disbelievingly. "Cisco's slipping with his nicknames."

"That wasn't one of Cisco's," Ray answered. Then he snapped his fingers. "But… you know Cisco? Maybe that means-"

"Nothin'," Mick interrupted. "Bet there's a Ramon on every Earth."

"Not this one," Terrill said quietly, making a few last connections between the android and the computers on the wall. "Not anymore."

There was a somber silence for a moment as he finished his work and tapped a few keys on one of the computers. When Red Tornado stirred to life again, Terrill said, "Identify everyone present, and dimension of origin."

The android scanned them all and reported, "Resistance Commander Leonard Snart, code name Citizen Cold. Origin, Earth-X. Resistance Lieutenant Ray Terrill, code name The Ray. Origin, Earth-1-"

"Schott busted you a rank?" Leo asked his boyfriend _sotto voce_ as Red Tornado went on to identify Mick and Ray.

Terrill shrugged. "Consequence of destroying the last Red Tornado," he whispered back. "Saved your life, though, so it was worth it."

"Waverider Captain Sara Lance," the android was saying. "Code name White Canary. Origin, Earth-1. Leonard Snart, code name Captain Cold. Origin, Earth-1."

Leo had been wrong about the box exploding. Sara felt it just melt away as Red Tornado confirmed the hope she'd been holding back. But Mick still didn't seem to be convinced. "We already know this one-" he pointed at Leo- "knows enough to reprogram Gideon to stop making booze. How do we know that one" - now pointing at Sn- _Leonard_ \- "didn't reprogram your robot to fool us?"

"To what purpose?" Leo objected, but Leonard just chuckled.

"Mick's just being true to his Missouri roots," he said. "Show-Me State, you know."

"Maybe. But if you are our Leonard," Sara said, expressing a doubt she no longer felt, "then tell Mick something only he would know."

He pondered for a moment, and then looked at Mick with a smirk. "You stayed at my house one night, after that first time in juvie," he said. "Lisa was six. She got mad at you for telling her she hit like a girl. So she went to the park, caught the biggest toad she could find... and planted it in your bed."

He chuckled. "You screamed... like a girl," he finished with a grin.

Ray choked back a laugh. Terrill's lips twitched, and Leo couldn't stop a smirk of his own, but Sara controlled her expression. "Well, Mick? Is that true?"

Mick rumbled in irritation for a moment. "Don't anybody get any ideas!" he finally said, and then shook a finger at Leonard. "Okay, smart guy. Just in case that was a lucky guess…"

"Me next!" Ray interrupted. "Tell me something-"

"Quiet, Haircut!" Mick ordered. Ray's mouth snapped shut, and Mick began again, "Just in case that was a lucky guess, tell Sara something only _she_ would know."

The grin dropped away as those piercing eyes locked onto Sara's, the blue tinged with a shadow of sorrow. "Sara. I can still feel your hand on my arm," he told her softly, touching the crook of his left arm, "and how you pulled yourself up to kiss me while I was holding down the Oculus failsafe."

She heard Mick's grunt, and Leo's pleased hum. Quietly, Ray asked, "Sara? Is that true?"

Sara nodded, and reached out to lay her hand on Leonard's arm, in just that spot where she'd clung to him so desperately, so long ago. "I never should have left you behind," she whispered. "I should've found another way."

He shook his head. "There wasn't time, and there wasn't any choice."

"You didn't _give_ us a choice!" Mick snarled, clenching his fists. He started to take a step forward, but Leo caught his shoulder to stop him.

"Mick!" Sara snapped, while Leonard countered, "I'm not going to apologize for making sure both of you survived!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Take it easy, guys!" Terrill said.

Then Ray stepped in front of Mick, his hands up in a calming gesture. "Mick, buddy, he did the same thing to you that you did to me, and I've never tried to punch you out for it."

"I'd like to see you try, Haircut," Mick grumbled, but there was no heat in it, and Leo released him. Mick let out a little huff and nodded at Ray, who stepped back out of the way. "Good to have you back, partner," Mick told Leonard, extending a fist.

Leonard bumped it with a slight smile. "Good to be back. Partner." He looked back at Sara. "So, Waverider captain? Sounds like I have a lot of catching up to do."

She nodded. "There's a lot to tell. But I'd… _we'd_ rather hear your story first."

"Yeah," Ray agreed. "Not that I'm not happy to see you… the _real_ you… but you should be…"

"Dead?" Leonard finished drily.

Ray chuckled weakly. "Well… yeah," he answered with a shrug.

"How are you here, Leonard?" Sara asked.

He shook his head, leaning against a worktable. "I'm not sure. After you left with Mick, I remember telling the Time Bastards off, and then… blue light. Next thing I knew, I was in Central City - but it wasn't _my_ Central City. The swastikas all over the place were sort of a clue. Then this guy and his team found me a couple weeks ago," he finished, jerking a thumb toward Terrill.

The Ray snorted while he disconnected Red Tornado again, trading tools and cables with Leo in what looked like a well-rehearsed routine. One that included what might have been a few more lingering touches than were strictly necessary, Sara noted with a smile.

"The General sent us to Central to take out a Nazi supply depot. When we got there, we found _him_ robbing the place," Terrill said, nodding at Leonard.

"Of course," Sara chortled. "Once a crook, always a crook."

"Didja get anything good?" Mick asked. Also always a crook, Sara reflected. Leonard answered him with a _meh_ waggle of his hand.

Terrill rolled his eyes. "Leonard helped us, and after hearing his story we brought him back here to wait for you. We gave him Leo's old cold gun to fight with, and he's been helping us against the Reich ever since."

"Thought hero wasn't on your resume," Ray observed, just a hint of teasing in his voice.

Leonard scoffed. "General Schott doesn't like idle hands around here, and I don't steal from people who have nothing. It was freedom fighting or KP duty, and you know how I hate to work. So, I helped a little."

"A little?" Terrill laughed. "That's an understatement!"

"Captain Cold saved the lives of more than 100 Resistance personnel since arriving on Earth-X one month ago," Red Tornado said. "Including those of Black Condor, Phantom Lady and The Ray."

Terrill nodded as Leo shot him a concerned look, before turning back to Leonard. "Really?" Leo said. "No wonder Schott likes you. And from what I hear, you saved the Legends, the timeline and free will back on Earth-1. You sound like one hell of a guy!"

Then he leaned in toward Leonard. "So why were the Legends giving you the cold shoulder when they first saw you? And why did you say they had reason for it?"

Leonard smiled wryly. "I see you pay attention too." He took in a breath and blew it out. "Whatever happened to me when the Oculus blew… it gave me memories I didn't have before, of things I'd swear I've never done. But Red ran a brain scan on me, and he says those memories are real."

He met Sara's eyes, and the wry smile vanished. "Thawne. Merlyn. Darhk. I remember… working with them." His gaze shifted to Ray and Mick. "I remember the cathedral at Amiens. I remember the battlefield at the Somme."

"All the temporal energy from the Oculus explosion… it must have undone the memory wipe Mick did on you when we dropped you back in 2014," Ray theorized. "So you remember… _Oh_."

Leonard closed his eyes with a resigned nod, a mix of pain and shame on his face. "Yeah. I remember what I did at the Somme." He opened his eyes again to meet Mick's gaze. "Mick, I shot you in the back like you were _nothing!"_

Mick rumbled again. "Wasn't me you shot. Was an aberration who deserved what he got. _Deserved it!_ " he barked when Sara and Ray opened their mouths to protest. "He… the other me... told me what he did… what I did… to all of you."

He turned his attention back to Leonard. "Other me also said it was you… but not _really_ you, working with the Legion. He was pretty sure Thawne had messed with your mind, sorta like what he'd done with the Englishman. Other me said he'd been with you for a whole year in an alternate timeline, but you were never really the Snart he knew. The real you would never have been Thawne's lap dog."

"So, you weren't responsible for what you did," Ray said, "any more than Rip was when-"

"When he turned on all of you," Leonard finished the thought. "Yeah, they told me about that. Red, what do you think? Could they have messed with my mind like that?"

Something changed momentarily in Red Tornado's eyes; probably the android processing data, Sara thought. Then he answered, "Your brain scan shows some neural scarring in the frontal lobe, the part of the human brain responsible for personality and higher cognitive functions. It is possible this is the result of tampering with your mind, which could account for out-of-character behavior."

"Like shooting Mick," Sara concluded.

Ray snapped his fingers. "Mick must have fixed it when he wiped your mind! Like hitting a reset button."

"Red, why didn't you mention this scarring before?" Leonard demanded.

Flatly, the android answered, "You asked about unfamiliar memories. Those are controlled by the temporal lobe, a different section of the brain."

Terrill laughed. "Red Tornado may be an advanced android, but when you get down to it, he works just like any computer. He'll only answer the question you ask."

"Garbage in, garbage out!" Ray concurred with a grin.

"See?" Mick laid a gloved hand on Leonard's shoulder. "Your finger might have pulled the trigger there in France, but it wasn't really you. And even if it was… I'm still here, ain't I? And you're here… and we've got a goddamn miracle to celebrate!"

"I'm with Mick," Ray said. "Like he's always saying, 'Less talking…'"

"More drinking!" Sara chuckled.

"Among other things!" Leo agreed, draping an arm across his boyfriend's shoulders. "And maybe we can find a moment to talk about…" he paused, giving Sara a significant _look_ , "pots and kettles. And whether they belong in boxes."

The other men stared at Leo quizzically, but Sara knew just what he meant. And she had to admit, he'd been right after all about opening that damned box.

She wasn't about to close it again.

* * *

ADDITIONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Bearded Leonard" is based on a few photos posted on the Wentworth Miller - Prison Break Facebook page. I'm not posting them here, as they're not mine, but you should be able to track them down. The photos are kind of scruffy; just picture the facial hair being a little more filled in.

One more chapter, I think. And I'm not going to promise it will be quick but I'll do my best.


	3. Chapter 3

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know. This is taking a while! Thank you for your patience.

* * *

"You're one hell of a thief, you know that?"

Leonard had expected to hear those words tonight. But not from his Earth-X counterpart, in the middle of a party. Leo smirked down at him, a bottle of Scotch in one hand and two shot glasses in the other. When Leonard raised a curious eyebrow, Leo took the seat Mick had vacated a few minutes ago and offered Leonard one of the glasses, saying, "You stole my best girl and my gun, and you tried to steal my boyfriend too!"

Best girl? Leonard frowned. The only "girl" he could think of was Sara (not that she'd like anyone calling her his… or her… "girl"), but so far he hadn't gotten a moment alone with her to try to steal that kiss… or anything else. As soon as they'd left the computer lab, she'd gotten pulled in to some tactical discussion with General Schott. So Mick and Ray found some corner seats to give Leonard the Reader's Digest version of had happened to the Waverider crew since the Vanishing Point, from their encounter with ninjas in feudal Japan to Jax's departure after Stein's death. In return, he told them about his final, defiant encounter with the Time Masters, that blue light, and the sensation of pushing through an invisible wall to land here on Earth-X.

Ray's brow had wrinkled at that, and he started muttering something about anachronisms, time-space compression and wormholes. After a solid minute of technobabble, he sprang up in search of Red Tornado and his impeccable memory banks.

Mick had watched Ray go off with what Leonard might have called a… fond … smirk, and looked back at Leonard. "In a minute Haircut's gonna ask me what the Time Masters knew about some of this stuff. I'm gonna need a beer for that. Maybe two. You good?"

Leonard had nodded, and Mick left him to absorb all he'd heard. He was still trying to wrap his mind around aliens (Palmer'd kept one as a pet? ) when his double derailed his train of thought, sending it barrelling down a track Leonard wasn't sure he was ready to deal with.

Why would Leo care about Leonard… stealing... Sara, anyway? From all he'd heard over the past few weeks, Leonard was pretty certain Leo was completely besotted with Ray Terrill. (The reverse was certainly true.)

Of course, there had been those oblique references to pots and kettles...

Keep it cool , he finally decided, returning the smirk. "Last thing I stole was Der Fuhrer's stash of that Scotch from that supply depot," he said, indicating Leo's bottle. "Your boyfriend kissed me , and I got your old gun from the General himself."

"Points taken, both of them," Leo replied, filling Leonard's glass. "But Talia seems to have taken quite a shine to you. She can't stop talking about 'Mr. Lenny' and his stories." One side of his mouth quirked up. "Wouldn't think the 'hardened criminal' I'd heard so much about would know so many fairy tales!"

Talia. Of course. Leonard allowed himself a chuckle at that, and explained, "I used to read them to Lisa when she was little."

"I envy you, that your Lisa grew up," Leo said with a thoughtful sigh, pouring his own glass. "I like to think Talia is something like Lisa…. my Lisa… might have been. At least, I did until I heard that story about the toad!"

He raised his glass. "To Lisa!"

"To Talia!" Leonard returned the salute and they drank. He hummed in appreciation as the Scotch went down. "This Earth's Oliver Queen may have been an unmitigated asshole, but he did have good taste in liquor. This is better than the stuff ol' Rip had from Rob Roy," he said.

Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "Rip?"

"Original captain of the Waverider," Leonard answered. "Fought against the Time Bastards, but from what Mick tells me, he went and came up with his own version of them."

"The Time Bureau," Leo nodded.

"Think I like Palmer's name for 'em better. Time Turds. They don't sound any different from the bunch I blew up," Leonard said sourly. "For a man who's supposed to be a history expert, Rip has a hard time learning from it."

"Hmmm." Leo poured them each another glass, then set the bottle down and leaned back to study Leonard. "And have you learned from history?"

Leonard sat up a little straighter. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Leo tilted his head with a knowing look. "Don't try to tell me you didn't think of Sara when I said you'd stolen my girl! And you might have been right... if I wasn't already in love with another badass blond with blue eyes."

"Where is your literal Ray of sunshine, anyway?" Leonard deflected. "Thought you two would be busy getting reacquainted ."

Leo rolled his eyes. "The General decided he wants Ray's report right away."

"It's a general's prerogative to change his mind."

"And you're trying to change the subject!" Leo scolded, shaking a finger at Leonard. Then, with a sigh, he leaned in and said in a low voice, "Look. I know you don't want to talk about your feelings, and I know you've been gone a long time for her…"

"Nearly two years and one Legion of Doom ," Leonard muttered, drawling the name sarcastically before downing his shot.

"But you've got another chance here," Leo continued. "Listen. I got to know Sara a bit in my time on the Waverider. Enough to know that she has regrets, and that you're one of them." He tossed off his own shot and stood up. "You don't have to be any more."

He walked off, leaving Leonard with the bottle… and his own confused thoughts.

* * *

"Sara! You've got to hear this!"

Sara had just finished a discussion of tactics with General Schott (giving him a few League tips that might help against opponents who might be on the run but were still better armed than the Resistance) when she heard Ray's call. He practically bounced across the room toward her in excitement, trailed by a bemused Mick and Red Tornado. Before they reached her, she scanned the room quickly, locating Zari, Nate and Amaya, but… "Where's Leonard?"

Ray blinked. "Hm? Last I saw, he was talking to Leo…" His voice trailed off as he turned toward an empty trio of chairs. A pair of shot glasses stood on a table between them.

"He's probably getting some air. Crowds were never his thing," Mick said, waving his hand around the packed room. The Resistance forces were definitely in a mood to let off some steam.

"Accessing internal security feeds," Red Tornado said. After a moment, he reported, "Earth-1 Leonard Snart is on the roof."

"See? Snart can take care of himself," Mick said. "Now, you really wanna hear what Haircut has to say. "

Sara raised her eyebrows; Mick was never usually this interested in Ray's theories. "All right, then. What has you so excited, Ray?"

"Something Snart told us about how he got here got me thinking," Ray said. "I asked Red Tornado to help me with some calculations, and Mick helped by explaining how time works in the Vanishing Point, and-"

"Haircut thinks he's figured out what's causing all the cronies!" Mick interrupted. Ray threw up his hands and nodded.

Sara felt a too-familiar pang of guilt. "Guys, we already know what caused the anachronisms. We broke time by going back where we'd already been and interacting with our other selves."

"That is not entirely accurate," Red Tornado said in his deep, emotionless voice. "According to information provided by Earth-1's Mr. Snart, Dr. Palmer and Mr. Rory, members of the original Waverider crew all interacted with your past selves prior to your second trip to 1916 without the consequence of 'breaking time,' as you put it."

Sara frowned. "But… Rip said we created time storms by making a time jump with our other selves."

"Rip used to say a lot of things," Mick grumbled.

"That's true," Ray conceded, pointing a finger at Mick. "But it's also true that we never actually made a time jump with our other selves. You pulled the lever for the time drive, Sara, but we didn't actually make it into the time stream. Something… that so-called time storm… hit us before we could. That's why we crashed right back onto the battlefield where we'd started."

Sara tilted her head curiously. " So-called time storm? If it wasn't a time storm, what was it?"

"More like a space-time surge ," Ray said.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Storm, surge, what's the difference?"

"Think of it like…" Ray paused a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Did you see Armageddon?"

"Deep Impact was better," Mick said. Sara gave him an exasperated look and motioned for Ray to continue.

"Both movies had huge meteors hitting the Earth and creating a surge of destruction that rippled out from the impact," he said. "What we've been seeing all over time… and now across dimensions… is pretty much the same thing."

"So this...surge…"

"Space-time surge," Ray supplied helpfully.

Sara shook her head at Ray's nit-picking. "You're telling me this space-time surge somehow blocked us from the time stream in 1916?"

"It pushed us away from it. And I think another part of the surge pushed Snart here," Ray said. "He said it felt like something pushed him through a wall right into this Earth's Central City. It sounded a lot like what Kara told me about how she got to her Earth after being trapped for years in something called the Phantom Zone…"

"A place where time doesn't pass," Mick added. "Sound familiar?"

"Like the Vanishing Point," Sara mused. "But if we didn't cause the… space-time surge, what did?"

"Kara did," Ray answered.

Sara looked at him sharply. "Kara Danvers did something on Earth-38 that wrecked time on Earth-1?"

"Time cannot be wrecked," Red Tornado interjected, while Ray said, "No, she did it on Earth-1. When she took this Earth's Supergirl-"

"Overgirl," Red Tornado corrected.

"Right, Overgirl… Remember, Kara took her way up in the atmosphere when she was going critical. When Overgirl... blew up, the explosion sent a shock wave throughout the space-time continuum… and through the multiverse," Ray continued. "The worst of the effects were on our own Earth since that was ground zero."

Mick added, "The Time Masters said time is more delicate in some places than others. That's why bounty hunters were supposed to check the timeline before taking someone out of it. Looks like the wave stirred up all those delicate places, and that's how you get cronies."

"Anachronisms," Sara corrected absently, her mind turning with the possibilities… and with a sense of relief. If these three were right, she hadn't broken time at all. "Can you get me some proof of this for the Time Bureau?"

Ray grinned. "I think we can manage that, Captain."

She nodded, and then decided to indulge Ray's nerdiness. "Then make it so."

Mick snorted, and Ray's grin became even wider. She grinned back and said, "I'm going to see if Leonard's up for another tour with our flying circus."

"Oh, he will be, Boss," Mick said, no hint of teasing in his tone.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not going to give me shit, Mick?"

"Nah, I know better," he answered, shaking his head. Then he smirked. "I'm gonna give him shit."

* * *

Sara was still grinning when she stepped out of the elevator onto the roof of the Resistance building. Night had fallen, and she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Don't you look like the canary who ate the cat," came a familiar drawl. Leonard was leaning against the parapet, watching her as she crossed the roof toward him. There was a bottle on the wall next to him.

Mindful of his usual need for a bit of distance, she settled on the other side of the bottle, right outside of his personal space. "Just got some good news, and I can't wait to rub a certain Time Bureau agent's nose in it," she said. She glanced at the bottle questioningly, and he gave her a "go ahead" hand wave. She took a swig and then let out a low, impressed whistle before setting it back down.

Leonard tilted his head, giving her a speculative look. "Is this the 'Agent Hottie' Mick told me about?"

"Yeah," Sara snorted derisively. Then she shrugged. "Okay, I admit she's hot, and a badass, and she did pull me out of some alternate demon dimension. But when we first met her, she was a real bitch to me and my crew, and I'm not ready to give her a pass on that yet."

Leonard blinked. "I thought you didn't like that word."

"I still don't like it," Sara agreed. "And that should tell you something." She leaned against the parapet and looked up at the night sky. "Last time I was here, you couldn't see the stars for all the fumes and the Nazi blimps."

He mirrored her pose. "The Nazis pulled back their airships when we took out a munitions factory on the edge of town about three weeks ago. The air started clearing about then. Red Tornado helped a bit… blew a lot of the leftover pollution back toward the Reich's remaining strongholds."

She turned her head to study his profile. "General Schott made a point of telling me several times that you were welcome to stay here with the Resistance if we didn't want you back. You made one hell of a good impression on him."

He chuckled, still looking out to the distance. "Never thought in a million years I'd ever hear someone saying that about me." He took in a breath, blew it out. "I do appreciate his offer, but… I need to go home, see Lisa. Mick tells me she took it pretty hard, after… you know."

"Yeah," she answered, remembering the black eye and bloody lip Mick sported when he returned to the Waverider after giving Lisa the news. "So… back to a life of crime with your sister?"

"After Savage, and… this…" he waved a hand to indicate Earth-X, "a life of crime seems kind of mundane."

He turned his head to meet her eyes with that same questioning look she'd seen that day in her quarters. "Well, things on the Waverider have never been mundane…" she began.

"Understatement."

"...but you need to know just what you're getting into."

"And with that, you are definitely a better captain than Rip ever was."

She couldn't help but chuckle at his dry tone, but didn't let that deter her. "Leonard, I wasn't joking about that alternate demon dimension. Damien Darhk and his daughter have been kicking us around pretty good."

His eyes narrowed. "I look forward to kicking them back. That is, if you can use… a hell of a thief?" She caught her breath at his choice of words, and the questioning look returned. "Sara, I know it's been a long time for you…"

She shifted to face him. "Nearly two years…"

"And one Legion of Doom," he interjected, saying the name distastefully.

She shook her head. "From what Red Tornado told us, that wasn't really you. And I'm not going to hold it against you."

He mirrored her pose once again. "Thanks. But still… while it's been nearly two years for you, it's only been a month for me, and…"

He looked down for a moment, then met her eyes again, looking more vulnerable than she could ever remember seeing him. "There hasn't been a day in that month that I haven't thought about that kiss, and how it was… almost perfect.'

He sighed, while she held her breath. "It would have been perfect if I could've put my arms around you but… I didn't dare. If I'd let go of that failsafe to hold you the way I wanted to…"

He spread his hands, shaking his head. "If I'd done that, the mission would have failed, Sara, because I would never have let you go."

She let out a sigh of her own, and took a step closer to him. "There's nothing stopping you now," she whispered.

The sound of sirens broke the silence.

"PERIMETER ALERT! PERIMETER ALERT! ALL PERSONNEL TO BATTLE STATIONS! REICH FORCES APPROACHING FROM THE EAST!"

"Why did I say that?" Sara groaned. Leonard cursed under his breath as they both looked eastward. Not a thing was to be seen on the ground, but Sara could hear a low, grinding sound in the distance.

"Panzers. And I bet..." Leonard looked up at the sky, sighed and pointed. "Sometimes I hate being right. Look up there."

Sara followed his finger and saw several slowly moving black masses near the eastern horizon. They blotted out the stars. "Blimps?"

"Bomber Zeppelins, not blimps. And they ain't gonna be dropping tires on us! Come on, we've got to get off this roof!"


	4. Chapter 4

Back on the main floor, the party had turned into organized chaos, with soldiers and civilians scrambling to prepare for the Nazi assault. Sara saw Leo rounding up some of the children, who looked wide-eyed but otherwise seemed much calmer and more disciplined than she'd have expected. More than she'd have been at their age.

But it wasn't surprising that Earth-X children learned to face fears very young.

"All children and non-combatants into the underground bunker!" Schott was ordering. He spotted Sara and Leonard. "Captain Lance, if you want to head back to your Earth, now might be a good time!"

"I've never been one to walk away from a fight," she told him.

"And neither are the rest of us," Ray added as he stepped forward, already in his ATOM suit, helmet in hand. Mick was beside him with his heat gun. The rest of Sara's team stood ranged behind them, looking equally determined.

"We still owe these bozos for the Professor," Nate said.

"You're gonna need the help, General," Leonard said. "We could hear the Panzers from the roof. And they've sent bomber Zeppelins."

"How many bombers?" Ray Terrill asked, striding up in his uniform, flanked by Red Tornado, the winged man and the green-cloaked woman.

"Too far out for us to be sure," Sara replied.

"If they get here…" the woman said.

"We'll make sure they don't, Jenny," Terrill assured her. "Time for Operation Blackout. You slow them down, we'll take them out." He looked over at Ray. "We could use your help in the air."

"On it," Ray said.

"Me, too," Zari added. They followed Terrill and his people toward the exit.

"What about the rest of us, General?" Sara asked while watching Terrill pause for one quick kiss with Leo.

"Do you remember your way to the armory?" Schott asked her. When she nodded, he said, "Go get what you need, then head to the east line. We make our stand there."

* * *

The last time Sara had visited the Resistance armory, the cupboard had been rather bare. Not any more. "We've been picking up goodies from the Reich's bases as we drive them out," Leonard had explained when they entered the room and she goggled at the racks filled with rifles and pistols, crates loaded with ammunition and explosives, and the display cases of gleaming knives.

Now they stood on opposite sides of a narrow work table, where they'd set down the pistols and sniper rifles they'd selected for themselves. Her team mingled with Schott's people, going through the racks to choose their weapons. Leonard was doing one last check of his… Leo's … cold gun while she slipped an assortment of knives into various pockets, gussets and gores of the black combat gear she'd changed into. Hopefully the enemy wouldn't get close enough for her to need them, but…

Just in case.

"Still amazes me how many knives you can hide in that outfit," Leonard said.

She glanced up at him and shared a smirk at the memory. "Not as many as in the new White Canary suit, but since I don't have it, this will have to do."

"Just as well," he said. "White would make you too tempting a target."

This probably wasn't the time or the place, surrounded by her team and Resistance fighters arming themselves, with a Nazi invasion force bearing down on them, but she couldn't resist. She leaned over the table and said in a low voice, "Oh, so you think I'm tempting, do you?"

He raised an eyebrow and leaned closer on his side of the table, but his answer was interrupted.

"Boss!"

Par for the course , Sara thought, as she and Leonard both snapped, "What?" at they stared at each other in surprise.

Mick blinked, staring at them himself for a moment. Then he shook his head with a too-knowing grin. "Sara. Found this," he said, holding out a bo staff similar to her own.

Another surprise. Sara took it, and after a moment's examination pulled it into two separate batons. "It's just like mine back on the Waverider."

Before she could examine the staff further, Leo strode briskly into the armory. "Marksmen, get to your posts!" he ordered.

As the Resistance fighters ran out of the armory, Leo moved over to the end of the table between Sara and Leonard. "The air team's comms are down," he told them in a low voice for their ears only. "It looks like Phantom Lady's shadows are slowing down the bombers, but the Reich's ground forces are practically at our doorstep. Your people ready?"

Sara nodded. "I think…"

"This is so cool!" She was interrupted by Nate emerging from behind one of the racks, a loaded rocket launcher on his shoulder and an excited grin on his face. Amaya stood just behind him, rolling her eyes.

"Watch where you point that thing!" Leo snapped. Nate's grin fell away, and Amaya made him lower the launcher as Leo went on, "That isn't a toy, and this isn't one of your movies!"

"We know that, Leo," Amaya answered evenly. "What's wrong? You're not usually this tightly wound."

Sara looked at Leo more closely and furrowed her brow. Amaya was right; Leo was usually more inclined to utter wisecracks and cold puns going into a fight, but right now his eyes were narrowed and his entire body taut with barely contained anger. He waited for the last of the Resistance fighters to leave before answering.

"The Reichsmen sent us a message under a flag of truce. They gave us an hour to surrender or face total annihilation. They say if we give up, all prisoners of war will be given the privileges of the Geneva Convention. That is, all prisoners except any… 'undesirables.' Like us," he said, waving a hand around at the group. "We'd go to the camps. Or so they say."

"More likely it would be to the firing squad," Amaya noted darkly. Leo pointed a finger at her and nodded.

"I hope General Schott told him, 'Nuts!'" Nate said.

Leo blinked and raised an eyebrow. "There was a four-letter word in his answer, but that wasn't it," he said.

Leonard shook his head. "You've been threatened before. Hell, Ray was actually thrown into one of the camps and you got him out. That's not why you're pissed off. What haven't you told us?"

One corner of Leo's mouth quirked up. "I think we're more alike than not. You notice things," he said, then took in a deep breath and huffed it out. "The surrender message was signed by Sturmbannführers Quentin Lance… and Lewis Snart."

Mick let out a four-letter word of his own, while Leonard's face took on the same grim look that Leo had been wearing.

"I killed the son of a bitch once," Leonard finally said. "Wouldn't mind doing it again."

"Unless I get to him first," Sara said, pointing one of her batons at him.

"Or me," Leo said. "I also want another shot at Lance. Our Sara was a friend of mine." He nodded at the batons. "Those belonged to her. I think she'd be pleased for you to use them, Captain."

He went to a storage cabinet to pull out some small, square devices. He handed some to Leonard. "Extra power packs for the cold gun," Leo said, slipping the rest into his parka. "Let's move."

She nodded to her team to follow Leo while she and Leonard finished gathering their own gear. Then she reached across the table to grab the collar of Leonard's jacket, pulling him down for a kiss. She smiled at him as they parted. "I know it's still not your definition of perfect, but I wasn't going to pass up this chance."

He grinned back. "Gives me an incentive to stay alive."

"You'd damn well better," she chuckled, picking up her rifle. "Let's go kick some Nazi ass."

* * *

The Resistance east line was a row of old tenement buildings, the kind that had long since been torn down and replaced in her own Star City. They were back on a rooftop with Schott's command team, looking out into the night. The stars were now obscured, thanks to the shadows Phantom Lady had created to blind the zeppelins. From somewhere beyond those shadows came the sound of explosions; the Freedom Fighters had engaged the bombers. Down below, trip flares revealed the Nazi Panzers Sara and Leonard had heard earlier, rumbling toward them.

"We'll be in range of their guns in a few minutes," Schott said to Sara. "You gave me lots of tips on the League's offensive tactics. How about defense?"

Sara shook her head. "Ra's al Ghul was more of an offensive type. His idea of defense was to keep a mountain range between you and your enemies. That's not going to be much help here," she replied in a low voice. She looked down the line at the tense faces of Schott's forces. "Your people are worried."

"This is the closest the Reichsmen have gotten to our civilians… our kids… since you people took out the General and the Führer. Of course they're worried," he answered. Then he leaned closer to her and said, "I am too. I tried to send a message to the other Resistance bases, but they're jamming our comms. We're on our own."

"General, never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world," Nate said. "In fact, it's the only thing that ever has."

Schott raised an eyebrow at the historian. "Inspiring words."

Nate nodded. "And your troops could use some of the same from you," he said. "A little inspiration can make all the difference."

Schott shook his head. "I'm not a speechmaker."

Nate grinned and held out a piece of paper. "You don't have to be."

Schott took the paper, and began reading. He snorted and gave Nate an impressed look before striding to one of his commanders and grabbing a bullhorn from him. He looked at the paper again, then began to speak.

"People of the Resistance! We are about to embark upon the Great Crusade! The eyes of the world are upon us, and the hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people are with us… that we will destroy the Reich's war machine and eliminate Nazi tyranny!"

Schott paused for a moment, barely glancing at the paper before raising the bullhorn again. "I will not lie to you. The enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle ready. They will fight savagely. But much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of the 1940s. Just in the past few weeks, we have handed the Reichsmen great defeats, in open battle, face-to-face, and we can do this again!"

He looked over at Sara's team. "Just a moment ago, one of our Earth-1 allies reminded me that change only happens because of small groups of committed individuals. We are going to be that change! Tonight, we are not just going to fight the enemy. We're going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him!"

He raised a fist. "For freedom!"

The cry was echoed down the line, while Sara and her companions stared at Nate. "Whoa!" Leo said, his eyes wide with surprise.

"You did say the General sent back a four-letter word," Nate told him with a grin. "I figured he wouldn't mind a little… colorful language."

"Didn't think you knew anything that... colorful ," Sara teased.

Nate shrugged. "Well, I kinda borrowed it. It was two parts Eisenhower and one part Patton, with just a touch of Margaret Mead."

Amaya chuckled. "Patton did have quite a mouth on him."

"They shoulda taught us that in history class," Mick complained.

Leonard nodded in agreement. "I might not have dropped out."

"Let's save the debate over public education for some other time," Sara said. "The Panzers are just about in position!"

Something bright came arrowing toward them from the eastern sky, landing on the command platform. "Bombers eliminated, General!" Terrill reported. He looked over at Sara. "Your people were a big help."

"What about the ground forces?" Schott demanded.

"There's a convoy of troop carriers out there, but they're covered so we can't get a headcount," Terrill answered. "The rest of the air team is working on taking them out."

"That just leaves the Panzers," Schott said. As if to emphasize his words, the Panzer cannons began to blast away. "Get moving, Lieutenant!"

"Yes, sir!" Terrill rose back into the air. "Leo, how about tossing a few snowballs their way?" he suggested before flying out toward the tank line, blasting one of them before soaring up to dodge the enemy fire.

"Snowballs?" Leonard echoed. "Against Panzers ?"

Leo grinned and changed a setting on his cold gun. He raised it again and pulled the trigger once, twice, three times, each pull sending a round ball of ice flying toward the enemy forces…

Where they exploded.

"Ice grenades!" Leo explained cheerfully. When Leonard looked down at his own gun, Leo added, "Sorry, yours doesn't do that!"

Sara rolled her eyes at the look on Leonard's face. "Boys and their toys!"

She raised her sniper rifle. "We've got incoming!"

* * *

Phantom Lady's shadows blocked all visible light, but the ATOM suit gave Ray vision beyond the visible. He zipped through her effort to slow the troop carriers, following the images created by his radiograph. He frowned as he drew closer to the lead vehicles. Shrinking down to stealth size, he flew into one of them, then moved on to another, and another.

He returned to the airspace above the convoy, scanning the rest of the vehicles, then zoomed over to where Phantom Lady, Black Condor and Zari had landed, returning to normal size as he touched down. Red Tornado was a second behind him. "There's a problem," Ray told them. "The troop carriers I checked are practically empty. Just a driver and shotgun in each."

"I found the same," Red Tornado reported.

The others stared at him in shock. "If the carriers are empty..." Black Condor began.

"Then where are the Reichsmen?" Phantom Lady finished.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Zari breathed.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Interesting things you learn when you're doing research. Yes, Patton had a real mouth on him!


	5. Chapter 5

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, another long wait. I apologize for that, but hope this is worth it! Thanks again to Jael for the beta!

(And there are a couple of Easter eggs hidden in this chapter. See if you can find them!)

* * *

"Maybe there weren't any Reichsmen in those carriers?" Ray suggested.

By now Zari was so accustomed to Ray's eternal optimism that she didn't bother rolling her eyes the way the human Freedom Fighters did. But she was still disappointed for him when Red Tornado dashed his hope.

"My infrared scanners show residual heat inside the vehicles, consistent with having recent passengers," the android reported. "There were soldiers inside before. I would say they exited approximately 30 minutes ago."

"So they could be… anywhere," Zari observed.

"Clever of them to keep us distracted with the bombers first," Black Condor said. "Red, can you backtrack and find where the soldiers went?"

Red Tornado nodded, and Phantom Lady added, "We also need to find whatever's jamming our communications."

"Well, my suit may not do infrared, but it does have a sniffer for radiofrequency interference. I can track the jammer and shut it down," Ray offered.

"All right, then, we split up," Phantom Lady decided. "You and Z take out the jammer. We'll go with Red Tornado to track those soldiers."

"We need to stop those transports first," Red Tornado said. "The lead vehicles are carrying additional artillery."

Phantom Lady pursed her lips. "Any suggestions?"

Black Condor snapped his fingers. "Remember River City?"

"That could work here," Red Tornado agreed.

Zari held up a hand. "Anyone want to give a clue to those of us who weren't there?"

"We'll brief you in the air," Black Condor answered, his wings extending from his shoulders.

"Red, you and Atom go left. Z and I will go right, and we'll meet you in the middle. Jenny, keep those shadows going until we're done."

"Copy that," Phantom Lady replied as the other four took flight.

Zari flew close to Black Condor. "So what are we doing?"

"Know how you use your powers to push things around?" he answered. "You're gonna do the same thing with dirt. We're gonna dig a big hole in the ground to block those carriers."

"A hole?"

"I said a _big_ hole!" With that, he demonstrated, sending a cyclone blast down to the ground. A cloud of dust rose, and as it cleared, Zari could see a long, narrow pit. Black Condor blasted again to widen it, then spiraled around. "Your turn, Z!"

She followed his example, aiming her hands at the next stretch of unbroken ground and summoning the power of her totem. Earth flew, and when it cleared she saw she'd created an even bigger hole than Black Condor had.

"Damn, girl! You're good!" he laughed as he flew past. "Let's do some more. We'll meet the others in the middle."

Within a few minutes they'd dug a deep, wide chasm just outside Phantom Lady's shadows. "Now, Jenny!" Black Condor shouted, and the shadows vanished.

Finally able to see, the lead transport drivers accelerated - and drove straight into the ravine, their cargos exploding on impact. There were shouts and the sound of squealing brakes from some of the other carriers, and a few crashes as some tailgaters smashed into the vehicles ahead of them.

Black Condor swooped down to pick Phantom Lady back up. "That should hold 'em," he shouted, his words punctuated by the sound of artillery fire from the front line. "Time for us to go!"

* * *

Sara pulled another spent magazine from her rifle, reloaded and peered over the parapet to look for more of the enemy snipers. The sound of gunfire filled the air as the Reich forces tried to pick off the Resistance fighters on the wall and tried to shoot down The Ray, who had just taken out his third Panzer.

Then his light suddenly winked out.

She heard Leo's cry of horror as Terrill's now-shadowy figure fell from the sky. Then she heard what she would swear was an owl's hoot, and saw Amaya soaring into the sky, arrowing toward the falling man. She caught him and looped around, dodging enemy bullets and making her way back to the roof.

Leo holstered his gun and rushed to his lover's side. Terrill's helmet and uniform had vanished, leaving him clad in soft black pants and a black t-shirt that was shredded and blood-soaked where he'd taken a hit to his right shoulder. He hissed as Amaya helped settle him against the parapet.

"Whoa! Whatever hit you knocked your uniform off?" Nate asked.

Leo shot him a baleful look, while Terrill answered, "No, it turned my powers off! The powers make the suit." He grunted in pain. "Whatever it is, it's still in there."

Leo pulled one of his narrow knives from his sleeve. "I'll get it out. Can somebody give me a little light?"

"Here." Mick stepped closer, igniting his heat gun in a small, controlled blast and holding it like a torch.

Leo nodded his thanks. "Nate, Amaya, can you two hold him still?"

Amaya grasped one of Terrill's arms, but Nate objected, "Hold on. That's not exactly sanitary!"

"Once this thing is out, it won't matter," Leo replied. Nate huffed in agreement and took hold of Terrill's other arm.

"Sorry, buddy, this is gonna hurt," Leo said, shifting a little closer.

"Just do it," Terrill said, gritting his teeth. He cried out in pain and, even while held firmly, jerked away when Leo's knife went into the bullet hole. Leo rocked back on his heels with a stricken look.

"Wait a minute," Leonard said, drawing his own cold gun and fiddling with a setting. "This gun may not be able to shoot ice grenades, but I can set it low enough to numb a wound."

The setting fixed, he knelt next to his counterpart and said, "Ray, this isn't going to feel too good at first."

Leo wrapped his free hand around one of Terrill's. "We trust you, Leonard," he said. Terrill nodded in agreement.

Leonard returned the nod, took a deep breath and fired the gun. The blue-white spray was the gentlest mist Sara had ever seen from it. Terrill jerked again, his hand tightening on Leo's at the first touch of the spray's bitter cold. Then he sighed as the pain was iced away.

"What was that about boys and their toys?" Leonard asked Sara with a smirk as he rose and re-holstered the gun. She snickered at him, a quiet huff of laughter that was echoed by Leo as he again reached out to remove the bullet.

This time he was successful. As he held the slug up to examine it, Terrill began to glow. The layer of frost left by the cold gun melted away. Then Sara blinked in surprise as the wound began to close up. Within a minute, the injury was completely healed, with even the blood burned away by The Ray's powers.

"Whoa!" Nate breathed one more time, as Terrill's uniform reappeared. "Meta-healing like a speedster, and you can even create your own costume! Neat trick!"

"You think that's neat, you should've seen it when some Nazi shot him in the head last week," Leonard said. "He shook it off like nothing happened."

Leo looked up sharply at Leonard, and then back down at his boyfriend, who chuckled weakly and shrugged. "I was gonna tell you, Leo. Just didn't have a chance. The important thing is that I walked away from that one."

"Yeah, well, you almost didn't walk away from _this_ one," Leo growled, holding up the bullet. "This isn't standard Reich ammo. It's different. I think they found some way to put their meta-dampeners into bullets."

Sara took the slug and peered at it. "Almost like those dwarf star bullets Turnbull had," she observed.

Nate shuddered, obviously remembering his own close call with one of those bullets. "Let's hope the Nazis don't have any of that stuff."

A ground-shaking explosion brought them back to awareness of the battle still raging. "Come on, Nathaniel," Amaya said. "Let's see if we can do some more damage with that grenade launcher of yours."

They moved back to their spot on the wall, Nate picking up the launcher while Amaya once again invoked an owl spirit to better see the targets in the darkness.

"They need air support," Terrill said. He started to push himself up, only to be stopped by Leo.

"No, you don't!" Leo said firmly.

Terrill let out a huff. "I've gotta…"

"You've got to stay _right there!_ " Leo interrupted, his voice as icy as Leonard's had ever been. "Ray, you know healing takes it out of you, especially when the sun is down and you can't recharge! And now they've got anti-meta weapons." He shook his head. "No way. You're staying put!"

Terrill waved a hand toward the battlefield on the other side of the wall. "Leo, those tanks…"

"Don't make me make it an order, _Lieutenant!_ " Leo snapped.

Terrill blinked in surprise at Leo's angry tone. "Pulling rank on me?" he said in a hurt voice.

Leo's expression softened, and he reached out to cup the side of Terrill's face. "Sorry, Ray, but… I just got home. I'm not losing you now."

Terrill smiled wryly. "I love you too. _Commander._ " He leaned in toward Leo and added, "You know, it's kinda sexy when you get all military on me."

"I'll keep that in mind for later," Leo purred.

Mick grunted and turned off his gun. "Enough with the mush, already! We've got Nazis to roast!"

Leonard chuckled as he and Sara turned back to the wall. "That's Mick. Ever the romantic."

Sara smirked back. "Some things never change," she said, raising her rifle and peering out into the darkness, seeking the snipers with the anti-meta ammunition but only seeing the rows of tanks in the light of the flares. "But Ray's right about air support. We could sure use Zari and _our_ Ray right now."

* * *

They were flying higher than Zari had ever dared before, trying to stay out of sight and range of any Nazi gunners as they approached the enemy's rear guard. Zari murmured another prayer of thanks for the moonless night and moved closer to Ray. "Anything?"

He hummed thoughtfully, then pointed. "There!"

Zari peered ahead, but could only see shadows against the dark ground. "I left my radio frequency detector glasses back on the Waverider, Ray," she told him.

"You've got RF-detector… oh, right. You're joking." He pointed to a spot ahead of them. "The signal is coming from a truck right over there. I just need to fly in a little closer and take it out. Be right back!" he said, diving down.

"Hang on! I'll watch your back!" she called, following him down - and straight into the sights of enemy snipers. She yelped as she felt fire skim over her left calf. Her concentration lost, she fell to a patch of grass-

Right in front of a tank.

Instinctively, she threw up her hands and let out a cyclone blast. Her mouth dropped open as the tank lifted up and blew away.

"Whoa!" Ray landed next to her. "You okay, Z?"

"Just got grazed," Zari answered, disregarding her injury as she stared at the tank, now sitting upside down with its treads pointing to the sky. "Guess I don't know my own strength!"

"Did you just quote Bullwinkle?" Ray asked, following her gaze. "Let's see if anyone is still alive in there. Switching to radiograph…"

He paused as he scanned the tank. "Hang on… it's hollow! That's not a real tank!"

He whirled around, looking at the surrounding enemy forces. "None of these tanks are real!"

"They're fakes?" Zari asked incredulously.

"Yeah!" He ducked down next to her at the sound of gunfire. "But those soldiers are real! Probably defending the jammer!" he said. "Do your thing, Z!"

She sent out another blast of air, blowing away a pair of Nazi snipers along with another fake tank, revealing the cargo truck that had been hidden behind the tank.

"That's the jammer!" Ray exclaimed. He raised his right arm and fired one of his blue energy blasts, torching the truck. "Comms should be back now!"

Zari tapped at her ear to turn her comm back on. Sure enough, the irritating buzz of the jamming was gone. "Sara? Can you hear me?"

" _Z? Are you all right?"_

She let out a huff of relief at hearing their captain's voice. "We're okay -"

"Z got hit," Ray contradicted.

Zari shot him an irritated look. "I'm hit but it's not bad. Listen! We've got a bunch of phony tanks out here by the rear guard, and the troop carriers were empty! The Freedom Fighters are trying to track down where the soldiers went. Do you copy?"

* * *

" _Do you copy?"_

"We...copy," Sara replied, staring at her teammates as they took in Zari's report. Then Nate snapped his fingers.

"They're using a ghost army!"

Sara raised an eyebrow and gave him a "go on" motion, and he explained, "It was a tactic the Allies used on our Earth in World War II. It's where the European theater really became theater. They used dummy tanks, fake cannons… even realistic-looking balloon airplanes, all to fool the enemy."

"I remember seeing some plans for that in 1942!" Amaya exclaimed. "The Army was recruiting people from Broadway for it. I didn't know they'd started using them!"

"It started in late '42, after you'd already stowed away on the Waverider," Nate told her.

"So… these fake forces make the enemy seem bigger than it really is?" Sara asked.

Nate nodded. "That was one of their missions-"

He was cut off by the arrival of General Schott, who looked even more worried than before. "We just heard from the Freedom Fighters," he said. "They say the Nazi infantry swung around north. They're coming in through the Dillin Tunnel!"

"And that was the Ghost Army's other mission," Nate said. "Keeping the enemy distracted from what you were really doing. Like sneaking behind enemy lines from a different direction."

"That tunnel is blocked off!" Terrill objected.

His words were punctuated by an explosion behind them, somewhere deep behind their line.

"Not anymore," Leonard said grimly.

The tenement building was rocked by another explosion from the other side, proof that not all of the enemy tanks were fakes. Sara cursed. "They're using a pincer attack!"

"That's bad?" Mick asked.

Nate nodded. "It's a total annihilation tactic. Hannibal used it to defeat the Romans at Cannae." When Mick looked at him blankly, he threw his hands up and said, "70,000 Roman casualties. And in this scenario, _we're_ the Romans. It's _very_ bad."

"It's worse than you know," Leo said. "The Dillin Tunnel lets out near the bunker where the civilians are hiding out."

"Can we redeploy some of our forces to the bunker?" Terrill asked.

Schott shook his head. "Our fighters are already spread too thin. They've got us outmanned and outgunned."

Ray's voice crackled over the comms. " _Maybe not, General. Can you manage to generate 1.2 gigawatts of electricity?"_

Schott's eyes widened, and Terrill answered, "Yeah, we can do that."

" _Perfect,"_ Ray answered. " _Captain, I've got an idea."_

* * *

ADDITIONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: Nate's information on the Battle of Cannae comes from Wikipedia. And according to some survival guides, you can indeed use just a knife to remove a bullet if you don't have surgical pliers handy. (The things I look up for fic!)


	6. Chapter 6

"This idea is insane!" Leo protested.

Ray just rolled his eyes at his boyfriend as he pulled on the body armor Schott's aide had delivered when they came down from the rooftop. Around them, Resistance fighters and their Earth-1 allies were getting ready to face the invaders at the Dillin Tunnel, loading gear into a stakebed truck.

Sara chuckled as she finished checking her gun. "Leo, you spent enough time with us to know insane is how we roll," she said, accepting a spare magazine from Leonard with a smile that was just a touch warmer than called for under the circumstances.

But from what little he'd seen and heard about these two, Ray couldn't really blame them.

"We've done crazier," Palmer agreed, fiddling with something on the back of his Atom suit.

"After Beebo-worshiping Vikings and a telepathic gorilla, this almost feels normal!" Zari added, tying off the bandage on her leg and rising once more, limping just a bit before using her powers to float into the truck.

Leo wasn't appeased. "Ray, you're not at full power after taking that hit…"

"I've got enough to get this done!" Ray huffed at him.

Leo snapped back, "And they still have their anti-meta bullets!"

"Once we get to 5,000 percent, he can just close the panel and he'll be safe as houses," Palmer said calmly, his eyes focused on an exposed section of circuitry. He started muttering to himself as he worked.

"And if things go wrong?" Leo demanded.

"You mean like always?" Nate interjected, getting an elbow in the side and a hiss of, "Not helping!" from Amaya.

"That's why I'm wearing this get-up!" Ray answered. Leo opened his mouth for a retort, but Ray cut him off. "This may be crazy, but it's the best way to fight on two fronts! Leo, we don't have any choice and we don't have any time to argue!"

Leonard and Sara both stilled and locked gazes, a current of… something passing between them. Regret?

It was a sure sign of Leo's distress that he didn't notice that nonverbal byplay. "We have until Palmer finishes whatever it is he's doing with his suit!" he countered.

"Enough time to say something you'll wish you hadn't," Sara said quietly. "You know exactly what I mean, Leo."

Leo's shoulders drooped at that, and he sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I do," he conceded. "Ray, I…"

"Done!" Palmer announced brightly, oblivious to the fact that he'd interrupted something. "Just needed to do a minor adjustment in the power management. The last time I did this, the auxiliary time drive was sort of like a jump start, but your power flow is different, more like a battery, so…"

"He's not the Energizer Bunny, Raymond!" Leonard drawled, interrupting the scientist's babble.

"Less talking, more doing, Haircut!" Mick added.

Palmer blinked, then said, "Uh, sure. I just need a minute to get the suit back on. But, um… one problem, Captain."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Just one?"

"Yeah. Because of the way Ray's power is going to interact with the dwarf star in the suit, our comms won't have any range past, oh, about 15 feet. We'll be able to talk to each other but we won't be able to talk to you," Palmer explained.

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Leonard jibed.

Sara rolled her eyes at him and said, "You already know what to do, both of you. Just get it done and then come help us."

"How will we know…" Palmer began to ask, but Mick interrupted.

"Just follow the sound of the fighting, Haircut!"

"Right. The sound of the fighting." Palmer nodded and started to put his suit back on.

Ray turned his attention back to Leo. "Listen, I know you're worried…"

The earlier fury had dimmed from Leo's eyes, but Ray could see the fear was still there. "Damn right I am!"

"...but you've got to trust me! Just like I trusted you when you stayed on Earth-1."

Leo snorted. "You would play that card on me."

"Damn right I would!" Ray told him. Then he reached out and laid a hand on Leo's chest. "I will come home to you. Promise."

Leo sighed and nodded. "Okay."

Ray put on the helmet that went with the rest of the body armor, then gave the other man a saucy grin. "Besides, we still need to talk about pots and kettles!"

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by General Schott, who was striding to the truck. "Our forward troops are reporting heavy fire at the tunnel! Let's roll, people!"

Ray put his hands on either side of Leo's face and kissed him. "Time for you to go be a hero, okay? I love you," he said.

Leo's expression had softened. "I love you. Be careful!"

"Aren't I always?" Ray returned. He snorted at Leo's answer of, "No!" before looking over at Leonard. "Look out for this guy for me, okay?"

"We all will," Sara promised.

"We look out for each other," Leonard added, giving Sara a significant look.

Schott leaned out of the window of the truck. "Come on, come on! We've got to go!"

One more kiss, then Leo followed the others into the bed of the truck. Ray turned to Palmer. "Ready for this?" he asked.

"I am if you are," Palmer replied, then turned around so Ray could see the open panel between Palmer's shoulder blades. Ray studied the exposed wires. "The red wire, right?"

"Right!"

Ray took in a breath and blew it out, shaking his head. "To think, when I was a little kid my parents yelled at me for sticking things into electrical sockets."

Palmer chuckled. "You too, huh?"

"All right, here goes! One… two… three!" Ray laid two fingers on the red wire and let his power flow. He gasped as the Atom suit began to expand. "Oh, shit!"

* * *

Nate let out a snort of laughter at Terrill's dismayed yelp. It got him a glare from Leo and another elbow jab from Amaya.

"This is insane," Schott breathed. He was leaning out of the truck's passenger window to watch Ray's suit grow like a tree, shooting upward to finally tower over the tenements.

The Atom looked down and gave them a quick salute before stepping over the buildings, straight into the field of real and fake Nazi tanks. As he turned away they could see the bright golden glow that was The Ray, still clinging to the Atom suit to provide the power needed to keep the suit enlarged.

Schott shook his head and settled back into his seat. "Let's move!" he ordered the soldier at the wheel. The woman nodded, and the truck roared off toward the Dillin Tunnel.

* * *

From his lofty perch, Ray watched the truck speed away. He was now tucked into the "socket" in the Atom suit, which had grown into a metallic cavern. Those exposed wires were now the size of tree trunks.

"You okay back there?" Palmer asked through the comms.

Ray nodded. "Yeah! I'm fine! That just felt like the Space Shot at the county fair! Only without the safety belt!"

"That was my favorite ride!" Palmer chuckled. "Did you close the hatch?"

"Not yet. Let me just…" Keeping one hand on a wire to maintain his power flow, Ray reached for the blue plate that would seal him in safely. But before he could get hold of it, a shell from one of the tanks below hit and sheared the metal away. Ray stared after it as it fell to Earth. "Well, so much for that idea! Lost the hatch!"

A hail of bullets hit the suit. Ray cursed and shrank back.

"Ray, are you okay back there?" Palmer asked again, sounding worried this time.

"I'm okay, except for being a human target! Just let me get some cover…" Ray started to worm between the wires, slipping behind them so he was as sheltered as he could be. "Oof. Good thing I didn't get to eat any of that junk food you guys brought! This is a tight squeeze!"

"Ray..."

"Keep with the plan, Palmer! We've got to make sure all the real tanks are put out of action!"

"All right. Hang on, buddy!" Palmer's warning was punctuated by a loud crunch. Ray peeked out to look at the ground nearly 300 feet below. He saw a flattened hunk of metal that was once one of the Reich's fearsome Panzers.

It now lay smoking in the middle of a giant footprint.

Ray chuckled and settled back into his hidey-hole, shaking his head. Leo was right. This was insane.

* * *

The truck hadn't quite stopped when Sara hurtled out of the back, firing her machine gun. Leonard was blasting ice on her right, Mick laying down literal fire on her left. Some of Leo's ice grenades exploded near the mouth of the tunnel, sending the Nazi ground forces flying. Nate, steeled up under his body armor, plowed into a group of enemy gunners to disarm them. Amaya followed, trampling them with the strength of a charging dinosaur. And overhead was Zari, ignoring her injured leg as she used her wind power to churn up a pile of old bricks, sending them flying into another group of Nazi foot soldiers.

Sara found herself fighting in tandem with Leonard, laughing as they fell easily into their old rhythms, as if he hadn't been gone for two years. Under his goggles, he flashed her a grin of his own. "Feels like old times!" he shouted.

And it did. For just a few minutes, it felt like that very first battle so long ago, when the original Legends took on a pack of mercenaries and terrorists at Vandal Savage's nuclear weapons auction.

For just a few minutes, Sara could forget all they'd lost and all that had changed since those days, and revel in the promise of Leonard's return.

But only for a few minutes. They were still outnumbered and outgunned, and the defenders were falling as the battle raged on, picked off one by one.

"Nathaniel!" Amaya cried as Nate's steel skin vanished. Some lucky marksman shooting anti-meta bullets had scored a hit on Nate's unarmored leg. Amaya dragged him to safety behind a car.

Mick bellowed when his heat gun was shot out of his hand. Zari swooped down to hit the Nazi before he could do the same to Mick's head. "There are too many!" she shouted over the gunfire as she and Mick made for safety behind an overturned truck.

Sara found shelter of her own with Leo and Leonard behind a concrete planter. "Zari's right," she said. "How are you guys on ammo?"

"On my last power pack. Then I'm back to conventional weapons," Leonard replied, patting his holstered pistol. "Leo, what about you? Got any more snowballs to throw?"

"Fresh out. Where the hell is the rest of my team?" Leo fumed. "John and Jenny should be here with Red Tornado by now! They were following these guys!"

"I don't suppose we can just hope they run out of bullets?" Nate called out through gritted teeth.

"Doubt it!" Mick answered.

Suddenly the gunfire dwindled to just a few stray shots… and then disappeared.

"Maybe you spoke too soon!" Amaya said.

Then came the twang of many bowstrings. Black arrows soared over their heads and sank into the wood of the long-abandoned storefronts a few feet away from them. Sara felt a chill as she stared at them.

"That was a warning!" a male voice cried out. "Your resistance is futile! Surrender now and you will be treated with honor!"

"I know that voice!" Sara said, her dread growing.

"Whoever it is, let's send him to a cold hell!" Leonard declared, shifting to rise and fire.

Sara grabbed his arm. "No! You'll be dead before you can take the shot!"

He pulled his goggles down to stare at her. "Sara…"

"I just got you back. I'm not losing you again!" she told him in a low voice. Then she shouted, loudly enough to be head across the battleground, "Drop your weapons, everyone!"

"Lance, we're not giving up to the Nazis!" Schott objected from his own sheltered spot a few feet away.

"That man is not a Nazi, General!" Sara answered. "He's worse - and we don't stand a chance in this kind of fight. But I can get us all out of this alive if you do as I say!"

"Alive to go to the camps?" Leo demanded.

Sara shook her head. "I've got a plan, Leo. Just… follow my lead." She dropped her own gun and shouted, "Don't shoot! We're coming out!"

She got to her feet slowly, her hands linked behind her head. After exchanging uncertain looks, the others followed her example. They moved from behind their shelters to the open, where the bodies of many of Schott's fighters lay alongside dead Nazis. Others stood with their own hands up, Nazi guns pointed at their hearts or their heads.

The mouth of the Dillin Tunnel was lined with fighters clad in black. Not the black uniforms of the Nazis or the tactical gear favored by the Resistance. These warriors were dressed in another uniform Sara knew all too well, having once worn it herself.

All but one of the masked assassins held bows with arrows nocked at the ready. The last one stood over three figures prone on the ground: Phantom Lady, Black Condor and Red Tornado. Leo gasped at the sight, but the unarmed assassin held up a hand.

"They are not dead," he said, before removing his mask to reveal a face Sara had last seen in 1958.

"They are simply rendered insensible," Ra's al Ghul told them.

 _"Das is gut,"_ said another voice. Sara knew this one, too, and had expected to hear it ever since Leo had told them about the surrender note. But it still hurt to see the Earth-X version of her father swaggering toward them. He was accompanied by another man. Judging by Leonard's sudden low growl, that was Earth-X's Lewis Snart.

Behind them, surrounded by armed soldiers, was a crowd of frightened men, women and children: the civilians from the bunker.

"We wanted to execute them ourselves," the travesty of her father went on.

"This is going to be a pleasure," Lewis Snart said with a leer. "All of you, on your knees."


	7. Chapter 7

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, another long wait for this chapter. And I had to make a tough choice; a looong chapter (which would have meant an even longer wait) or break it up so you wouldn't have as long to wait.

I decided to break it up, which will take the story to 9 or 10 chapters (still not sure on the total). And I do have one more follow-up in mind for this series.

Now here's the good news for patient readers. Chapter 8 is written already. But I won't be putting it up until next week, as I'm still working on Chapter 9 and I'm having to go back and forth a bit, tweaking 8 here and there to keep my continuity straight.

Thanks for your patience, your kudos and your comments!

* * *

"I thought you said you had a plan!" Schott hissed at Sara as the Nazi soldiers herded them into a line.

"I did!" she shot back in a low voice. "To keep the assassins from slaughtering us within seconds!"

"Yeah, so the Nazis can slaughter us over hours instead! On national television!" Schott returned.

"I bought us time!" Hopefully enough time for Ray to get here.

"You might wish you hadn't," Schott said darkly as they were pushed to their knees. "These guys like to torture first, kill later."

"That's what they did to our Sara's girlfriend," Leo added. "Right in front of Sara. And then that bastard-" he nodded at the Nazi Quentin Lance, "killed his own daughter."

"Halt die Klappe! Be silent!" snapped Lance.

A sound of despair washed over the civilian prisoners, and somewhere in that crowd a child began wailing. Sara couldn't see who was crying, but a glance at Leo's worried expression told her it was Talia, his special pet amongst the children.

"Someone shut that kid up!" _Sturmbannführer_ Lewis Snart snapped, and Leo winced.

So did Leonard. But somewhere in the crowd, someone quieted the crying girl.

Power-dampening collars were slapped onto the defenders who'd shown metahuman abilities: Nate, Zari and Amaya, along with the now-conscious Phantom Lady and Black Condor. Red Tornado was still on the ground, his power source disconnected. Ra's al Ghul stood over the disabled android, backed by his assassins. He watched the scene with what anyone else would have considered a bored expression.

After two tours with the League, though, Sara knew better, and she recognized a spark of… something… when his gaze met hers. Interest? Recognition? She might be able to use that.

Lewis paced back and forth in front of the line of prisoners, staring at Leonard and Leo in amazement. "This is absolutely uncanny," he declared. "If not for the different clothes, and the beard on that one, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart!"

He stopped in front of Leonard and studied him for a moment. Then he shook his head and looked over at Lance. "When you told me about doppelgängers, Quentin, I thought you'd been hitting the schnapps a bit too hard."

"Pot, meet kettle," Leo muttered.

Lewis turned _sharply_ back toward Leo, fury flashing in his eyes. "I'd show some respect if I were you, boy!" he snarled, drawing his pistol and putting the muzzle to Leo's forehead.

* * *

It didn't take long for the Panzer crews to learn that the Atom suit let Ray easily tell the difference between the real tanks and the fake ones.

It took them even less time to figure out that if they didn't abandon ship… er, tank, they would be squashed. The soldiers looked like ants as they poured out of the Panzers and ran away. A few of them tried taking a shot at him, but the bullets just bounced harmlessly off the suit, with some of the Nazis getting hit by the ricochets.

It took a few blasts from his gauntlets to drive them onto one patch of land. Then he turned it into an island by carving a deep trench in the ground around it, just as he and the others had done before to cut off the troop carriers. These guys wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. Unless they were part mountain goat.

"All quiet on the eastern front!" he announced once he was done. "How are you holding up, buddy?"

Terrill responded with a weak chuckle. _"Growing the suit felt like the Space Shot, but you stomping around fighting these guys felt more like the teacups."_

Ray frowned at the mention of his least favorite county fair ride, and the memory of what happened every time he was on it. "You haven't thrown up back there, have you?"

Another laugh, but it still sounded… tired. _"No, I haven't puked in your suit, Ray. Remember, I didn't get a chance to eat any of that junk food before the Nazis got here. Nothing_ to _throw up."_

"Maybe not, but you don't sound too good," Ray persisted, turning back toward the city.

 _"Well, like Leonard said, I'm not the Energizer Bunny. I can't quite keep going and going and going. I'm gonna need a solar recharge in a bit."_

"Sunrise is still a while away. Should we-"

 _"I_ can _keep going long enough to get us to the Dillin Tunnel, Ray! And I think we'd better hurry. Listen!"_

Ray paused, listened, and frowned again. "I don't hear anything."

 _"Exactly. Everybody stopped shooting."_

"Well, that should be good news!"

 _"Or it's very bad news. Let's move, Ray!"_

Ray nodded and picked up the pace.

* * *

 _"Halt mal!"_

Quentin's shout drew Lewis' attention away from Leo. Quentin walked up to Lewis, and in a lower voice went on, "Control your temper, _mein Freund._ Soon enough you'll get the chance to publicly execute him on television, as a warning of the consequences of betraying one's father… or Fatherland."

He leaned just a little closer to Lewis. "Remember how effective it was when I set that example?" he asked, then leered down at Sara. She fought back the same nausea she'd felt when she first learned her Earth-X counterpart had been killed by this perversion of everything Quentin Lance… the real Quentin Lance… had ever been.

Lewis drew a deep breath, and slowly pulled the gun away from Leo's head. Then with a quick movement he changed his grip and struck Leo on the head with the gun's handle. Leo swayed. Sara reached out to steady him but got clouted herself by a soldier behind her.

Leo straightened and spat blood. "I see you haven't lost your touch, _Dad,"_ he said derisively.

"And I see you are as insolent now as when you were a kid," Lewis hissed back. "I'd've beaten it out of you, but you ran off before I could set you on the Reich's straight and narrow path."

Mick snorted at that, then grunted when he was clubbed by another soldier. Lewis merely glared at him before turning to Leonard. "What about you? Did your father teach you some respect?"

"He tried," Leonard drawled. "Right up to the day I put an icicle through his heart. I guess you could say he failed."

Sara tensed, expecting Leonard to earn a hit of his own, but Lewis just smiled grimly. "Ruthless. I like it," he said. Then the smile faded. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you set a bad example!" he growled, striking Leonard the same way he'd hit Leo.

Perhaps having a few more years experience living with Lewis made the difference; Leonard turned his head away at just the right moment, lessening the impact of the blow. Lewis chuckled. "At least he taught you how to take a punch."

He sauntered away, scanning the line in satisfaction. Then he stopped and turned back with a frown. "There is someone missing. The golden boy. Your _boyfriend,"_ he said, looking at Leo, his tone dripping with disgust. "Where is The Ray?"

At that moment, there was a rush of air, followed by the _boom_ of something falling from the sky and crashing into the pavement not far away. When the dust cleared, they could see the twisted remains of one of the Nazi tanks.

And hovering over it, still towering over everything, was Ray Palmer in his Atom suit. "You called?"

* * *

Ray's new pal had been right: flying in had given them the element of surprise, and the sight of the crushed Panzer had rattled the enemy. Unfortunately, this bunch didn't cut and run the way the tank crews had. Their hands might have been shaking, but their guns were still trained on their hostages. And he couldn't fire his blasters finely enough to avoid collateral damage.

But… the Nazis didn't know that.

"Let them go if you know what's good for you!" he warned, raising a gauntlet, intending to fire a warning shot. But before he could, there was a weak whisper over the comms.

 _"Sorry, buddy. I can't…"_

Terrill's voice faded away, and suddenly, the Atom suit began to shrink.

* * *

For the second time in just a few hours, Sara watched Ray Terrill's dark form fall from the sky and heard Leo cry out.

This time, it was Ray Palmer who stopped the fall, but with considerably less grace than when Amaya had done it. The sudden unexpected shrinking of the Atom suit had apparently thrown off his control, so the save was more like a midair collision, the impact sending them spiraling down together. Ray managed to slow their fall a bit, and to turn them so he - and the suit - took the brunt of it as they slammed into the debris churned up by the tank.

Lance motioned at some of his soldiers, who ran to the fallen men. One of them checked the still figures. "They are alive, _Sturmbannführer!"_ he reported, and Sara could just hear Leo's quiet relieved sigh.

"Very good!" Lance said. "I wouldn't want them to die before we had the chance to execute them!"

"And don't forget the torture," Lewis added.

"Oh, of course not," Lance chuckled. He motioned again at his soldiers. "Get a collar on The Ray before he wakes up! And remove the metal man's suit. We might be able to use it."

"Oh, not again!" Nate sighed.

But Sara's attention was on Ra's, whose expression had shifted from boredom to displeasure. His eyes had narrowed at the mention of torture.

Leo had said their Sara's girlfriend had been tortured.

Had it been this world's Nyssa? Or some other hapless woman condemned by this world's twisted sense of morality?

Either way, the League… her League… had once been bound by a code of honor, even if her version of Ra's had stretched it beyond recognition. This Ra's had mentioned honor when he called for their surrender. Perhaps…

She drew a deep breath and called out to him. "I thought you said we'd be treated with honor. Where's the honor in this?"

"Honor is for the strong, not the weak!" Lance snapped at her.

Ra's straightened a bit. "Honor is for everyone, _Sturmbannführer,"_ he corrected in a tone that would have sounded mild to anyone else.

After two tours with the League, Sara knew better.

"And the promise of honorable treatment was mine, given in the belief that the strong could be gracious in victory," Ra's went on. "After all, you yourself told me that the Reich are not animals."

"Has this guy been paying attention?" Schott muttered under his breath.

"That graciousness is, in itself, a sign of strength," Ra's said, either not hearing Schott - or ignoring him. "Is it not written that prisoners should be kindly treated and kept?"

Sara's brow furrowed, recognizing the words even as Lance waved the objection off. "Not in the laws of the Reich."

"But it _is_ written in the laws of the League of Assassins!" Sara shouted. "And by the laws of the League, I challenge the Demon's Head!"

There was a cacophony from all sides then, with Leonard hissing, "Sara!" and Mick saying, "Boss!" and Schott asking, "Are you crazy?" while her team gasped and the still-masked assassins laughed with the Nazi soldiers and the two _Sturmbannführers_ squabbled.

But the only sound Sara cared about was Ra's calm answer.

"I accept."


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The wait for this was about a week longer than I'd expected, but mostly because it is so closely tied to the next chapter and I wanted to make sure my continuity was all set. Thank you for your patience! And as always, thanks to Jael for the beta, and for assuring me that one of my ideas for this chapter wasn't crazy (although the character certainly is - read on!)

* * *

Leonard had often - more often than he would admit to anyone, though Mick had probably figured it out long ago - imagined seeing Sara in just this state of undress. But his imaginings had been set in a place far more comfortable and private than this huge soundstage in a just-revived television station. They'd certainly never included an arena lined with TV camera crews, armed guards and a studio audience.

And they'd never, ever involved a near-naked Sara about to engage in a duel to the death with the nearly immortal leader of the League of Assassins, while his minions watched from the catwalks above.

"This is _insane!"_ Leonard fumed, once again straining fruitlessly against the cuffs that kept his hands bound behind his back. For the hundredth time he mentally cursed having lost his lockpicks weeks ago in Nazi Central City.

Although, considering the closely watching armed guards, it wouldn't have mattered if he did still have them.

He and Leo had been given side-by-side front-row seats in one set of bleachers that were set up in the station's huge studio. The Legends and Freedom Fighters filled out the rest of the row on either side of them, nearly all of them similarly handcuffed. Behind them were some of the civilian prisoners - all of them very young, very old or very injured. The guards obviously didn't consider these hostages dangerous enough to bother binding.

On his other side, Sara was cuffed too, in a costume that left very little to the imagination and no place to stow any hidden weapons. But at al Ghul's instruction, her hands were bound in front of her, to keep her from straining her shoulders unnecessarily before the duel. " _We don't want the show to end too quickly,"_ he'd said, and then added something in Arabic that made Sara purse her lips.

Now, she put a hand on Leonard's knee in a calming gesture. "Like I said before, insane is how we roll," she said.

"Maybe that should be our motto," Zari said drily.

"Hey, I still like, 'We mess things up for the better!'" Nate protested.

Leonard leaned forward to shoot a cold gaze the historian's way. "This is no joke, pretty boy! Sara's about to fight for her life - tricked out in Princess Leia's slave girl getup!"

"Actually, I think Leia's costume covered more," Ray said. He flinched when Leonard turned his glare on him.

Mick nudged the scientist and rumbled, "Not helping, Haircut!"

"Are they always like this, Leo?" Terrill asked. He was finally conscious again, but leaned tiredly against his boyfriend.

"Hmm… most of the time," Leo answered, pressing a kiss to the top of Terrill's head. "How are you feeling?"

"Drained," Terrill said. "Even if I get the collar off, I'm not gonna be any help until I can get some sunlight."

"The sun's been up for a while now," Leo observed, nodding toward a large clock that was ticking toward nine A.M.

"And we're stuck in a TV studio without windows," Schott retorted.

"No windows, but it does have doors to the outside. Especially that big rollup one over there. Pretty sure it faces east," Zari said, nodding to the door on the other side of the studio. She shrugged. "I pay attention."

Leonard smirked back at her. "I'm gonna like working with you."

"Did you happen to pay any attention to those bleachers between us and that door?" Black Condor interjected. "You know, the ones filled with Nazi soldiers?"

"Not to mention these handcuffs and power dampeners," Phantom Lady added.

"Or the guns. Or the assassins over our heads," Schott said.

"I'm scared," said a small voice behind them, quelling the chatter. Leonard shifted to look at Talia.

"Hey, Squirt," he answered softly. "I know it's scary but I need you to be brave now. Just like… just like Princess Leia in the story I told you."

"I thought you said _she_ was Princess Leia," Talia said, pointing at Sara, who somehow managed a chuckle despite their situation.

"I said she's dressed like Princess Leia," Leonard corrected. "But either way, it doesn't mean you can't be brave like her, right?"

Talia thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Leonard smiled. "That's my girl!" he said.

"You sure you're not trying to steal her?" Leo asked in an undertone.

"Speaking of _Star Wars,_ Jabba the Hutt over there has been watching you," Amaya murmured. "And he's coming this way."

Nazi Lewis swaggered up to the prisoners. He regarded Leo and Terrill with distaste. "I'll never understand… this," he said, waggling a hand at the two of them. "But I do understand _her_ ," he went on, pointing to Talia. "She looks an awful lot like your sister, doesn't she?"

Leonard tensed, and could feel Leo doing the same as Lewis leaned closer, looking at Talia. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

She hesitated, probably recognizing the harsh voice that had ordered her to be shut up earlier, even though Lewis tried to sweeten it now. "Don't be shy, sweetheart. I bet a pretty little girl like you has a very pretty name."

"T-t-talia," the child finally stammered.

Lewis gave her one of those false smiles Leonard remembered all too well from his own father. "Talia? Well, now, that's a beautiful name," he said. "And how old are you, Talia?"

"Four." She held up a hand with four fingers extended. The hand was shaking.

Lewis' smile grew wider, hiding the monster underneath. "Four, eh? Well, aren't you a big girl? And I bet you like cookies, don't you?"

She swallowed, then nodded. Lewis held a hand out to her. "Come on with me to my seat over there," he said, nodding toward a raised platform on the other side of the arena, where his buddy Lance sat on one of what could only be called a pair of thrones. "My friend and I have cookies… and candy… and we've even got chocolate milk! You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Talia took in a deep breath and glanced wildly between Leonard and Leo. They exchanged a glance, both knowing if she didn't go willingly, Lewis would just drag her over. After a silent exchange, they gave her a slight nod. She looked back at Lewis and nodded too.

He chuckled and waggled his fingers at her. Timidly, she put her hand in his and let him lead her between Leonard and Leo, off the bleachers. "Good girl," he crooned. "You're going to be as good as gold for me, aren't you? Everything is gonna be all right."

He started to lead her off toward the platform, then turned back and patted the pistol at his side before going on in that same crooning tone, "Everything is gonna be all right as long as everybody is good."

He leveled one last smile at the two versions of his son, then sauntered off with Talia. Once he was out of earshot, Sara growled. "I don't like his smile."

"You shouldn't," Leo said. "He's like a damned crocodile."

"He smiles before he bites your hand off," Leonard agreed.

As Lewis was leading Talia to the platform (where Leonard did not see any of the promised cookies or chocolate milk, but that wasn't a surprise at all), a harried-looking man in a rumpled Nazi uniform was shouting, "Five minutes to air! Where are my fighters?"

His eyes fell on Sara. "You.. you! What are you doing there? You should be warming up! Now, please!"

"Never knew a Nazi to say 'please,'" Terrill said as Sara got to her feet.

The man gave him a puzzled look. "Nazi? Oh, the uniform!"

He shooed Sara toward the middle of the arena where a trio of armed guards awaited her, warning, "Don't try anything funny. They'll start killing the civilians if you do."

While Sara was uncuffed, the harried man leaned down and said in a low voice, "I'm not a Nazi, I'm a TV producer! But if I don't play along, they'll kill my family. Same story for about half of these guys. Their people are stuck in internment camps as security for good behavior, so they were ordered to fight and now they're ordered to sit in those bleachers and cheer while all of you die."

He nodded at some of the guards around the bleachers. "But there are still a few true believers here too," he warned before scurrying off, shouting, "Get that light into position! And will someone get that woman her sword?"

"They've still got camps full of hostages," Leo said quietly.

"That tracks with what people told us in Hub City," Phantom Lady said.

Black Condor nodded. "The rumors were that the camps were in Coast and Gateway."

Leonard was only half-listening to the others, his attention on Sara as she received a sword from one of the masked assassins, who leaned close to her and apparently told her something, because she gave him a slight nod. She caught Leonard's eyes and for a long moment stared back at him, the way she had before kissing him at the Oculus. Then she turned away and began to move in a graceful sword dance, getting a feel for the unfamiliar weapon as she warmed up.

"Boss."

Mick's calm voice cut through the buzzing of the fears that were chasing each other around inside Leonard's head. He blinked and met Mick's gaze.

"Relax. You and I have both seen Sara take on guys twice her size," the older man reminded him.

Not that Leonard needed much reminding. He'd replayed the memory of that 1975 bar fight in his mind plenty of times, even before the Oculus, often following it up by imagining the things he wished he'd done right after they'd wiped the floor with those thugs. But still… "They were all amateurs, Mick," he said as he watched her opponent stride into the arena. "This guy is no amateur."

Sara had once told him that Ra's al Ghul was something like 150 years old, but the waters of the Lazarus Pit made him look somewhere around Leonard's own age. He'd stripped down to just a simple pair of tight black pants, revealing a physique that proved the Demon's Head didn't simply rest on his fearsome laurels.

He carried a sword that was a twin to Sara's, and his feet were bare like hers. He watched her move for a moment, and then fell in step with her, mirroring her movements in a deadly _pas de deux._ They danced for a minute, each taking the other's measure.

Leonard shook his head as they finished with a formal bow. "No amateur at all. He's a professional killing machine."

"Quiet on the set!" shouted the harried producer. "Places, everyone! We go live in five… four… three… two… one!"

The studio lights dimmed, and ridiculously ominous music that was probably intended to intimidate started playing over the studio's sound system. A spotlight went on in the middle of the arena, revealing a man in a white tuxedo, microphone in hand. Leonard's first thought was that the man looked like a game show host. Then his eyes narrowed. Could that be…?

"Citizens of the Reich!" the man exclaimed. "We interrupt your usual morning television programming for this special broadcast. I'm your host, James Jesse!"

It was. Leonard sighed in resignation. It figured this world's version of the Trickster would sign on with the Nazis. They probably kept him in the plastic surgery that made him look shinier and newer than the Earth-1 version that had broken out of Iron Heights with him.

But the voice was the same… filled with sick, homicidal glee as he announced, "Today the Reich celebrates its victory over the rebellion by executing the leaders of the so-called Resistance, including the last of those terrorists who called themselves…" he paused to survey Leonard's group with an expression of disdain, then said mockingly, "the Freedom Fighters."

He even made air quotes.

Recorded boos filled the air while a cameraman walked down the line of Freedom Fighters. Leonard would have rolled his eyes if the stakes weren't so high.

"Since this is the créme de la créme of the enemy, we've decided to do something very special for these executions. We won't just be putting them in front of a firing squad. Oh no! You could call this…" Jesse paused and grinned toothily at the cameras, "a _variety_ show! Take a look at what we've got planned!"

He gestured toward the open space on one end of the arena, where a platform was pushed out into the light. On it was a gallows with three nooses. "Some of these rebels will get the hangman's noose!" Jesse cackled.

He turned and waved toward a second gap, where a second platform was revealed. It held a big, black-hooded man armed with a huge axe, standing next to a headsman's block. "Others will taste the executioner's steel! Folks, that's real Damascus steel on that axe. Sharpest steel in the world! They've got quite a prop department here. They did the torches, too," he said, pointing to the flaming torches lining the two platforms. "Nice touch, huh?"

One more turn and wave toward a third gap, where stagehands were pulling out a large, plain wall. "But we won't forget tradition; we still have the good old firing squad!" Jesse proclaimed.

He laughed along with the recorded audience, then made a motion for silence. "But wait… there's more!"

"Really?" Terrill mumbled in disbelief.

"Today we're also going to be serving up some poetic justice to these two men who call themselves 'Cold,'" Jesse declared. He waved his hand in a circle, and two women in showgirl costumes pranced out, carrying the cold guns that had been surrendered at the Dillin Tunnel. "You two… and your 'friend' there…" Jesse jerked his head toward Terrill, "will get a chance to experience absolute zero as you are executed with your own weapons!"

Jesse chuckled darkly. "Talk about getting hoist by your own petard!"

"Just wait until I get my hands on _your_ petard!" Mick growled.

Jesse just smirked at him. "Oooh, you run hot, don't you? I think we need to add one more thing just for you."

He whirled to face the "royal" platform. " _Sturmbannführers,_ can I burn this one at the stake?"

Lance and Lewis exchanged a smirk over Talia's head. Then Lance gave him a nod and a wave of assent. Jesse pumped his fist and danced a little jig, like a child who'd gotten his run of a candy store. "Excellent!" he cried, then pointed to the harried producer. "Get to work on that, will you?"

As the producer scurried off, Jesse sauntered up to Schott. "Now, _General_ Winslow Schott. As leader of these rebels, you will get the… _privilege_ … of choosing your method of execution from everything you see here."

Jesse snickered as a chorus of _ooohs_ poured from the sound system. "It's a tough choice! Take your time," he advised. "After all, you'll get to see everyone else die first anyway!"

He threw them one last grin, then bounded back into the center of the arena. "But before the executions, we have something very special. A duel... to the death!" Jesse intoned, his voice dropping ominously on the last word. Dramatically, he gestured toward Sara's opponent. "On one side, Ra's al Ghul, also known as the Demon's Head! He's the leader of the League of Assassins and an ally to the Reich!"

The canned cheers were augmented by a loud, ritualized shout and stomp from the surrounding assassins. Lewis and Lance applauded politely from their seats on the platform. Al Ghul showed no expression at all.

Jesse waited for the noise to die down before continuing, "The Demon's Head has been challenged by a visitor from another world!"

Another chorus of _oohs._ Jesse shook a scolding finger. "She is one of the people who helped to murder our beloved Führer and his wife, General Zor-El!"

The canned boos started again at a low volume, getting louder as Jesse continued his spiel. "This woman has given aid and... _comfort_ to the rebellion!" he proclaimed, and then laid the innuendo even thicker as he said, "She has admitted to perverse relations with men _and_ women!'

The recorded boos were augmented by catcalls that made Leonard bristle and made the women curse. With an expression of twisted joy, Jesse raised his voice again. "She is Earth-1's Sara Lance, known to the League of Assassins as Ta-er al-Sahfer, but reviled by the Reich as the bloody White Canary!"

Nate huffed. "If he says, 'Let's get ready to rumble,' I'm gonna hurl!"

But Jesse did not say anything about getting ready to rumble. Instead, he waved a hand toward the platform. " _Sturmbannführers,_ would you care to say a word before the duel begins?"

Lance rose from his seat. "Indeed! We want to welcome some very special guests who are joining us through satellite transmissions."

He waved toward a large screen on one side of the arena, which lit up with the image of a dark-haired woman. "From Coast City, we welcome Talia al Ghul, elder daughter of the Demon's Head."

" _Father, all is well here. I wish you good fortune,"_ the woman said in a cultured voice, inclining her head slightly.

"And from Gateway City, we welcome Amina al Ghul, the younger daughter of Ra's al Ghul."

Leonard glanced over at Sara, who frowned at the masked woman who appeared on another screen. She'd probably been expecting Nyssa - but maybe there was no Nyssa on this Earth, just as there was no longer a Lisa.

"Daughter, why are you masked?" al Ghul asked.

" _Father, my forces have not yet completed the_ shuai-jan _,_ " the masked woman said. " _As is our tradition, I remain masked until they have."_

Al Ghul nodded. "I understand, my daughter," he said. "I am proud of you both for honoring our ways."

Lance clapped, and the room filled with canned applause. "It's a rare thing to be proud of one's children," he said. "I envy you. Wouldn't you agree, _mein freund?"_

"Sadly, yes," Lewis answered. He had Talia in his lap, and was stroking her hair. "But if at first you don't succeed… am I right?" Lance chuckled at that, and Lewis went on, "Are we ready to begin?"

"Almost," al Ghul said. "I promised to treat my opponent with honor. I believe it would be honorable to let her say farewell to her friends."

The two _Sturmbannführers_ exchanged a look, then Lance gave a wave of assent. "Of course. We are not animals, after all."

One of the guards took Sara's sword and gave her a push toward the bleachers. Motioning to one of the cameramen, Jesse followed her and stage whispered, "Let's hear what might be Ta-er al-Sahfer's last words. Will they be words of remorse or regret?"

"They're gonna be four-letter words if you don't back off!" Sara snapped, glaring at him and the microphone he was holding out. "And I don't need the sword to make you bleed!'

Leonard smirked to see Jesse turn pale and retreat to the center of the arena. The cameraman took a couple of steps back, but his lens was still trained on her. Sara shook her head and turned back to her team.

Mick gave her a feral grin. "Just say you're gonna kick his ass, Boss."

She smirked back. "Thanks, Mick."

"We believe in you, Sara," Amaya added.

"Just like you always believe in us," Zari said.

Ray nodded. "You've got this, Sara."

"Good luck, Captain," Nate told her.

Sara nodded, and then met Leonard's gaze with a look that was once again only too familiar.

"Sara," he said softly.

Just as softly, she said, "Leonard, I…"

Then she sighed and lunged forward to kiss him, her hands grasping the lapels of his jacket while he leaned into the kiss, once again cursing that he couldn't put his arms around her, both of them trying to say so much without any words.

Just like at the Oculus.

And just like at the Oculus, she held his eyes as she pulled away, until she had to turn back to the arena and take back her sword. He could only watch as she moved into position and struck a graceful pose.

This time she was the one who could be dead in minutes.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Yes, a cliffhanger - again!

There was a real benefit to my dithering over this chapter; James Jesse was not part of the original draft. But then a memory hit me like a bolt of lightning, of Mark Hamill (who plays Jesse) saying he always thought he'd be a game show host.

All that was missing here was Curtain Number 1!


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Sorry to keep you waiting, and thanks as always to Jael for the beta!

* * *

"Hey, lover boy! I know she's one hell of a kisser, but get the stars out of your eyes for a minute!"

Leonard tore his attention away from Sara as she and al Ghul bowed formally to each other in the center of the arena. He glowered at his doppelgänger, but Leo just smirked and said in a low voice, "Listen! Dear old dad was so busy trying to show the Demon's Head just how sadistic he could be when he cuffed me that he missed the lockpick hidden in my sleeve. But I'm locked up too tight; my fingers are numb. Can you get it?"

Leonard blinked. "You have a… Why are you only telling me about it now?"

"Because the guards aren't paying attention to us any more. They're watching _her!_ Look!"

A quick look around showed it was true. Sara's skimpy fighting bikini not only prevented her from stashing any secret weapons, it also drew the eyes of all the guards. Especially as she and al Ghul began to feint at each other, straining the strings of that bikini.

"They're busy hoping she falls out of that outfit. Not that I blame them," Leo said, getting another sour glare that just made him chuckle. "Taken, not blind!"

Leonard snorted in irritation, then took one last look around. Even the assassin on the catwalk right above them was glued to the fighters circling each other in the arena. He nodded to Leo, and they both shifted so he could reach the pick. As he worked to extract it from its hiding place, he asked, "So…. just how do _you_ know she's one hell of a kisser?"

"Do you really wanna do this _now?"_ Leo replied.

Terrill interjected, "Does this have something to do with pots and kettles?"

Schott groaned. "We are all going to die, aren't we?"

The clashing of swords drew their attention, just as Leonard pulled the pick free. Sara and al Ghul had gone from testing each other to actually engaging.

Leonard tried to keep his focus on working free from his cuffs, but worries still pricked at the corners of his mind. Mick had subjected him to dozens - hell, maybe hundreds - of ninja movies over the years, not to mention watching _Star Wars_ with its lightsaber duels at least a few dozen times. And years before, Leonard had been entranced when his grandfather introduced him to Errol Flynn's swashbuckling.

But there was nothing entrancing about watching the woman you lo- cared about, locked in a fight for her life. Sara seemed to be holding her own against the Earth-X version of the man who'd trained her, but Leonard knew full well that all those movies hadn't taught him a damned thing about real sword fighting and that he was no judge of whether she was really doing well or not.

But he did know a thing or two about real injuries, and hissed in sympathy when al Ghul sliced a thin line on Sara's thigh. She whirled away, swinging her sword and scoring a hit of her own on his arm, just as Leonard managed to undo his handcuffs.

He may have been a little out of practice with lockpicks, but he could still do magic. Even when distracted by fear for the woman he lo- cared about.

"That's it, Sara!" Ray cheered even as the sound effects team turned up the boos. The other Legends and the Freedom Fighters joined him in shouting encouragement to Sara, drawing scowls from the two Nazi leaders on the platform. Leonard froze for a second, hoping Lewis wouldn't notice his arms were no longer so tightly bound behind him. But like his Earth-1 counterpart, Lewis had no eye for detail. The older man merely smirked at him and turned his attention back to the arena, cheering al Ghul on while keeping hold of Talia, who was still trying to put on a brave face.

Leonard let out the breath he'd been holding and shifted again to start freeing his double, still watching Sara and al Ghul as they parried and feinted.

Quietly, Leo said, "So, where are we now, according to the Earth-1 Snart method of planning?"

Leonard frowned at him, puzzled, and Leo went on, "Barry told me. 'Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan.'"

With a shake of his head, Leonard said, "I have never said anything so monumentally stupid in my life. And even if I had, I sure as hell wouldn't have said it to _Barry Allen!"_

"Well, I wouldn't call it _stupid-_ " Leo said.

"No, you just called it terrible," Terrill put in.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "But if I _had_ said it… we went off the rails a long time ago."

* * *

Jesse frowned and checked his watch. This was taking longer than he'd thought; they might have to rush the mass executions if the network was going to hit the rollerball semifinals on time. Damn.

Although… he could tell the league to postpone the first ball drop. He'd have to do a little vamping so they could get a clean start at the top of the hour, but-

The rapid clashing of swords drew his attention back to the arena. The Canary woman and the assassin were exchanging two-handed blows, switching from high to low, the woman driving the man back. Then their roles reversed as al Ghul took advantage of his superior male height and strength. Jesse whistled in admiration of their skill. The woman might be an amoral slut and the man only slightly better than a savage, but they were certainly putting on one hell of a show.

"Want me to call the rollerball league and have them push back their start time?" The show producer - what was his name again? Did it matter? - had appeared at his side, holding out the glass of water he'd asked for _ages_ ago.

Jesse took the glass, took one sip and spat it out, throwing the rest of the water at the producer. "You put ice in my water? Don't you know what happens when you drink ice water before going on air? Huh? Huh?" he raged. "Your tongue freezes up, that's what happens! You can't talk! You want me not to talk?"

Jesse had advanced on the dripping producer all through this tirade, finally forcing him against the side of the prisoner bleachers while the other man stuttered replies and denials. Jesse shoved the glass back at him and said, "Get me another water, without ice!"

The man started to move off, but Jesse grabbed him by the tie. "Hold on! I'm not done with you!"

He checked his watch again, and then said, "Call the league and tell them to wait. Rollerball happens every year, but this… _this_ is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle!"

He looked back at the arena, still holding the producer in place by the tie. "It's almost too bad the woman has to die. Ohhh! What a hit!"

The woman had taken another slice across her midriff. She just grinned and changed the grip on her sword before attacking al Ghul again, disregarding the blood dripping on her belly and leg.

"Now _that's_ entertainment!" Jesse declared. He looked back at the producer. "This is better than the cooking shows you used to do, isn't it?"

"Uhh… I don't know," the other man said slowly. "After we finished a cooking show, we got to eat."

Jesse shrugged. "You still could here," he answered, then chuckled at the other man's shocked expression. "Kidding, kidding! The Reich has other plans for the bodies. But… cooking shows… that's giving me an idea..."

He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "That's it! I need a frying pan!"

"A… frying pan?" the producer quavered.

"Yes! A frying pan! For when we burn the big guy!" He released the other man's tie and gave him a little push. "Go find me a frying pan - after you call the rollerballers! And get me another glass of water. Without ice!"

The producer scurried off. Jesse chuckled and turned his full attention back to the arena. This gig could pay for that neck lift the surgeon had recommended- Oh!

The two fighters were now almost nose-to-nose, their blades locked together. Then they swept their weapons around in a circle, resulting in both swords flying from their grip and clattering to the arena floor near the _Sturmbannführers'_ box while the fighters shoved each other away toward opposite sides of the arena.

Jesse turned his microphone back on and ran into the center of the arena. "Let's take a minute to reset here!" he shouted. "Wow! What a spectacle!"

He found one of the cameras and looked right into the lens. "You thought you were just getting a simple execution, didn't you, folks? But instead you're getting a taste of… foreign culture, thanks to our allies from Nanda Parbat."

He put his hands together as if in prayer and bowed to al Ghul, who merely inclined his head slightly while taking the swords back from one of his assassins. Jesse went on, "And we're seeing an amazing display of martial arts! You folks at home didn't expect that, did you?"

He waved his hand to signal the audio tech to pump up the cheering a little, then waved it again in a quieting motion before stepping even closer to the camera. "And… you didn't imagine it… we saw a little romance right before the fight, didn't we?"

He chuckled darkly. "Wanna see some more?"

He skipped over to the prisoner bleachers, and motioned to some of the guards to bring the Canary woman over. He smirked at Bearded Cold. "What do you say to one more kiss before dying, my friend?"

"I'm _not_ your _friend,"_ Bearded Cold snarled.

Jesse opened his mouth for a retort, then winced as the sound of feedback filled the studio. " _Father, the_ shuai-jan _is complete!"_ one of al Ghul's daughters announced, pulling off her mask to reveal a scarred - and somehow familiar - face. " _The camps are liberated!"_

Jesse's eyes widened in horror. "Cut the feed! Cut the feed!" he ordered.

But it was too late. A collective gasp of surprise and excitement rose up from the bleacher full of soldiers across the arena, while the pictures on the two screens turned to static. Ra's al Ghul shouted something incomprehensible before tossing one of his swords to the Canary woman.

Then the lights went out.

* * *

Leo blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dim light cast by the overhead TV screens and the torches on the executioners' platforms. Shadows descended from the overhead catwalks; al Ghul's assassins slithering down silken ropes. Some attacked the Nazi guards, with help from many of the soldiers from the other bleachers.

"Why aren't you shooting?" Jesse shouted at the guards. "Shoot them! Shoot them all!"

"We've already tried! Somebody swapped our guns for fakes!" one of the guards shouted back.

"Quite a prop department here!" al Ghul shouted. He and Sara were now fighting back to back in a knot of soldiers who were using their prop rifles as clubs. Mick roared and plunged into the fray, along with a steeled-up Nate.

Now Jesse was looking around in a panic. Leonard tapped him on the shoulder. Jesse turned toward him with a yelp. Leonard smirked - and slugged him. Jesse dropped like a stone.

"Nice hit!" Leo said as he pulled Ray's power-dampener off. Leonard gave him a wry salute and headed into the arena.

"Get that big door open and get the civilians out of here!" Schott ordered.

"On it!" Zari and Amaya both tapped the necklaces at their throats. The faint blue image of an owl surrounded Amaya once again, and she rose into the air with Zari. The two women flew over the arena toward the rollup door Zari had pointed out before.

John and Jenny were shepherding the civilians off the bleachers and around the borders of the battle, with some help from Palmer. Ray tried to get to his feet but collapsed immediately, still too weak from the night's efforts.

Leo pulled him up. "C'mon, buddy. The ladies will have that big door open in a jiffy and you can soak in that lovely sunshine out there."

He bent to sling Ray over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, just like Mickey had taught him so long ago. "Oof!" he said, straightening up under Ray's weight. "Just how many of those Almond Joys did you eat?"

Ray just grunted something unintelligible. Leo snorted and followed the line of civilians, partially watching the fight from the corner of his eye. Mick had grabbed one of the torches and was swinging it around wildly to keep the Nazis away from the escaping civilians. Not far away, Nate was being charged by the executioner, who'd raised his axe high. As it came down, the historian threw his arms up to deflect the blow. The axe blade shattered on impact. Nate grinned at his opponent and laid him out with one solid punch.

There was a metallic squeal and rattle ahead of them. Zari and Amaya were pulling down the chain for the big rollup door., letting in a thin line of light that became wider and brighter as the door went up. The women motioned to the civilians to hurry through, but Leo stopped and set Ray down in the flood of sunshine, holding him steady.

Ray's eyes were closed, his head lolling back as he soaked in the light energy. After a minute, he started to glow and rose into the air, arching his back and stretching as if he'd just woken from sleep. Then he opened his eyes and looked down at Leo.

"You're giving me that look again," he said with a smile.

Leo smiled back as Ray descended. "Can you blame me?" he answered, laying a hand on Ray's cheek.

The moment was broken by the sound of gunfire outside. Apparently there were still Nazis with real guns out there. "Think it's time for you to go be a hero," Leo said. "Be careful."

Ray pulled Leo close for a hard kiss. "You too." He rose back into the air. "I love you," he said before flying out through the big door.

"I love you," Leo murmured back, watching him.

"Hey, lover boy! I know he's one hell of a kisser, but get the stars outta your eyes for a minute!"

Leo turned to see his smirking Earth-1 counterpart holding two cold guns. "Come on! Let's go put dear old dad on ice!" Leonard said, tossing one of the guns to Leo. "Nice of the Nazis to recharge these babies for us!"

Leo grinned back at him and, together, they ran across the studio floor, where the fighting seemed to nearly be over. _Sturmbannführer_ Lance was on his knees, al Ghul standing over him with his blade pointed at the man's heart. But Lewis was making for the exit on the other side of the studio, dragging Talia by the arm.

"You're not goin' anywhere with our girl!" Leonard growled, pulling the trigger on his gun and sending an ice grenade flying over Lewis' head.

"You stole my gun!" Leo exclaimed as the grenade exploded between Lewis and the exit, cutting off his escape.

"Just tryin' it out!" Leonard replied as they ran toward Lewis and Talia. She was struggling to get away from him, but Lewis held her with a merciless grip. Then he drew his pistol with his free hand, and pointed it at her head.

"Drop your freeze guns, or she dies!" Lewis ordered. "Do it!"

Leo exchanged a look with Leonard. Both of them knew Lewis would not hesitate to kill the girl. Nor could they attack him without endangering her. They nodded to each other and slowly set their guns on the floor.

"Good," Lewis said. He started to move toward the remaining exit, still clutching Talia with his gun to her temple. "Now, you and your friends are going to let us leave. Don't try to stop us, or her brains will be splattered all over the place."

Leo growled and took a half-step forward. Leonard stopped him, murmuring, "This isn't a fight we can win."

With a menacing chuckle, Lewis said, "That's right, boys. Pick your battles. We'll play this game again one day."

"I don't think so," came a defiant voice from the catwalk above them. A second later, Sara Lance slid down a silken rope and slammed into Lewis. The impact knocked the gun from his grip and sent him staggering to his knees while Talia broke free from his surprise-loosened grip. Sara stood over him with her sword pointed at his heart.

"No woman should ever suffer at the hands of a man," she declared. "Even if the woman is only four years old."

Leo drew in a relieved breath and opened his arms to Talia, who jumped into his embrace and wrapped her own skinny arms around his neck. She hugged him for a minute, then pulled back to look at Leonard.

"Mr. Lenny, you were right. She's not Princess Leia," Talia announced. "She's _better!"_

* * *

Sara chuckled at the little girl's pronouncement. Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Lewis shifting his weight as if to attempt an attack. "No, you don't!" Sara growled, and clubbed him with the hilt of her sword.

Lewis dropped like a stone, unconscious.

She snorted in satisfaction, then looked around the rest of the studio. The Nazi forces were subdued. She could see Mick and Nate working with a couple of Ra's' assassins to herd the enemy soldiers together. Ra's himself met her eyes from across the floor and gave her a single nod.

Schott joined their group. "The civilians are safe, and your people and the Freedom Fighters are rounding up the last of the bad guys. It's over," he said. He looked at Sara. "Captain Lance, are you all right?"

Sara nodded, looking down at the cuts Ra's had inflicted. "These are just scratches. They won't even leave scars. Ra's and I both knew the best places to hit each other to make it look real without causing serious damage."

Leonard's voice was sharp. "You mean you _knew_ this was going to happen?"

Sara shrugged slightly. "Well, I didn't know exactly how it was going to go down, but I knew Ra's wasn't going to stay on the Nazis' side of things."

"And how did you know that?" Schott pressed.

"Remember I told you my Ra's was pretty big on offense? So's this one. And both of them like to use deception as an offensive tool," Sara explained. "I knew it when this Ra's kept quoting _The Art of War_. It's required reading for Earth-1's League of Assassins. One of Sun Tzu's main points was that the art of war is the art of deception."

"So why the big charade?" Leo asked.

"We needed to buy time so Nyssa's forces could liberate the internment camp in Gateway City," Sara answered.

"That was Nyssa?"

Sara nodded at Leo's surprised question. "My Nyssa uses the same alias. It's their mom's name."

"We never got to meet her. Our Sara joined the Resistance to try to get her out of the camps," Leo told her. "You know how that ended."

"And the shoo… shoo-eye…" Schott stumbled over the pronunciation.

" _Shuai-jan,"_ Sara corrected him. "Just a code for the attack plan, also from Sun Tzu. The _shuai-jan_ is a snake. Attack its head, the tail will strike back. Attack the tail, the head will get you. And attack the middle…"

"And you'll get it from both ends?" Schott chuckled, getting a nod from Sara. "It fits."

"And you couldn't tell us any of this because…?" Leonard asked, his voice still sharp.

Sara spread her hands. "None of you speak Arabic or Mandarin, and the guards were watching us too closely for me to say anything in English." She softened her voice. "I know you hate not being in on a plan, Leonard, but there was no time, and no other choice."

Those familiar words hung in the air between them. Leo exchanged a glance with Schott, then said, "Well, it worked. Think I'll head outside and check on Ray and the others."

"Aaaand I think I'll try to re-establish contact with Coast and Gateway. Maybe we can start the work of reuniting some of these folks with their loved ones," Schott said. "Leo, let's get your old man secured first."

Leo nodded and set Talia down. He and Schott each grabbed one of Lewis' arms so they could drag him across the floor to where Ra's' assassins were now guarding the Earth-X Quentin Lance.

That left her alone with Leonard, who was looking at her stone-faced. "I'm not going to apologize-" she began.

He quickly stepped toward her, pulling her into his arms and lowering his head to kiss her fiercely. When they broke apart, he told her, "I don't want you to apologize, Sara. I get it. If anybody gets the 'no choice' scenario, it's me."

He caressed her cheek, then let his hand rest against the side of her neck where he had to feel her pulse racing wildly. "I'm just glad you're okay and that I've finally got you where I've wanted you for so long."

"And finally got to steal that kiss?" she teased.

He chuckled. "Yeah, but like I told Raymond once, you don't break into a candy store and steal just one gumball."

He held her tighter and kissed her again.

* * *

Mick smirked in satisfaction, watching Leonard and Sara across the arena. This was a good day. His best friend was back, his two bosses finally had their shit together, he got to beat up Nazis (which was almost as satisfying as roasting them) and the Earth-X good guys would probably be throwing another party to celebrate a real victory.

He'd even gotten his licks in on Fake Lewis Snart. (Mick had no compunction about kicking that man when he was down.)

All of this had the makings of another book.

His musing was interrupted by a yelp from over by the bleachers. The game show host - Jesse, wasn't it? - had woken up to a vastly different world.

The little man sprang to his feet, looking around like a trapped animal. He started to run for the big outside door, but stopped when Mick blocked his path. Haircut and Pretty did the same on either side. "Looks like your petard is grass," Mick rumbled.

The little man yelped again, turning to go back the way he came - only to be stopped by the show producer, who'd stripped off his Nazi jacket. He was carrying a glass of water, and a goddamned frying pan?

"Your water, Mr. Jesse," the producer said, tossing a glassful of it into the little guy's face.

Jesse spluttered, and the producer then said, "And you asked for a frying pan, _sir?"_ before clobbering Jesse with the frying pan. The little man went down, unconscious again. Pretty and Haircut stared in shock, while Mick chuckled.

The producer puffed up in satisfaction. "Now _that's_ entertainment!" he proclaimed.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Not quite done yet.


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** And now we come to the end of this adventure. Parts of this have been written for months; the trick was stringing them together.

Many thanks to Jael for risking her dental health to beta this! Consider yoursef warned: Much fluff ahead!

* * *

Someone had left a set of metal chairs and a table on a patio just outside the studio doors. Maybe it had been a lunch spot for the station's employees once upon a time. Maybe it would be again someday.

For now, it was a perfect sun deck for Ray Terrill. He slouched on one chair with his feet propped on another, his shirt wadded up and placed behind his head as a pillow while he basked in the sunlight.

"Now that's the most beautiful sight I've seen in a long, long time," drawled a familiar voice.

Ray smiled and opened one eye to see Leo grinning down at him. "Oh, really? I heard that crack you made about the Almond Joys."

Leo's grin faded a little. "Well, I-"

Ray chuckled and sat up, pulling his feet off the opposite chair and motioning to Leo to take it. "Leo, after all this time, don't you think that I know when you're teasing?"

"I guess," Leo answered as he sat down. "But I'd still like to make it up to you. Got some news. General Schott is promoting you back to commander."

"So you don't outrank me any more?" Ray asked, and pouted. "But it was so sexy when you were ordering me around…"

"Ray…"

Leo was taking this far too seriously. Ray shook his head. "Leo, I think you were on Earth-1 too long. You don't seem to know when I'm teasing you!"

"I _was_ gone too long," Leo admitted softly. "But it was also just long enough for Sara to teach me something important about missed opportunities."

Ray's smile softened. "Is this all that business about pots and kettles?" he asked, and when the other man's expression turned slightly guilty, he said, "It's okay, Leo. I'm pretty sure I've figured that one out. And… let's just say we're even. Okay?"

Leo let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "Okay. In fact, we're even in more ways than one, now that you've been re-promoted to the same rank as me. That makes it a little less awkward for me to do this," he said, and leaned forward to grasp Ray's hands in his.

Leo's hands were trembling. But… Leo's hands _never_ trembled. Ray watched him, wide-eyed, as Leo drew in a deep breath, then let it out.

"Ray, we have fought together, we've bled together, and we've nearly died together," he said quietly. "Now that this war is finally, _finally_ over, I want us to _live_ together, for the rest of our lives."

He paused and took another breath, looking down at their joined hands and then sliding off the chair to his knees. He met Ray's eyes again and asked, "Will you marry me?"

Leo had one particular expression that he knew Ray could never refuse. He wasn't using it now. Instead, he looked more vulnerable than Ray had ever seen him, and Ray just melted at the sight.

"Yes," he answered, his voice as quiet as Leo's had been. Then he laughed and repeated, "Yes!" while leaning forward to kiss Leo, whose smile was as bright as the sunlight pouring down on them.

No more missed opportunities for either of them.

* * *

It didn't take long for Schott's people, with some help from Palmer, to restore communications to Coast and Gateway cities. In fact, it took Palmer longer to explain what they were doing than to actually _do_ it.

He might still be explaining if al Ghul's stare hadn't cowed him into awkward silence.

Schott wasn't sure why Palmer thought he or al Ghul would actually understand all that technobabble. Or why Palmer thought they'd care. What they cared about were the reports being given by al Ghul's daughters on the two big monitors.

" _The liberated prisoners are getting food and medical aid. And the remaining Reichsmen are now… guests… in their own prison camp,"_ Talia al Ghul said, smirking.

"Hoist with their own petard," al Ghul said with a smirk of his own. "Well done. General Schott will decide what is to be done with them."

The woman nodded. " _We will await his instructions,"_ she said. Her screen went dark, and al Ghul turned to the other one.

"Nyssa, what of Gateway City?"

" _The situation here is a little more dire, Father. The Reichsmen contaminated the water supply before we could subdue them,"_ Nyssa reported. " _They have all been captured, but the city is now uninhabitable."_

"They poisoned the wells," Heywood said. "It's an old-fashioned revenge tactic. Like salting the earth to ruin farmland."

" _We are organizing an evacuation, but where should we take them?"_ Nyssa asked.

"Bring them here," answered another voice. Captain Lance climbed the stairs to join them on the viewing platform. She had her Snart's black leather jacket on, covering the scanty bikini she'd been fighting in earlier. Snart himself was close behind her.

"I don't know if we have the resources-" Schott began.

Palmer interrupted him. "Sure you do. All the resources you need."

Schott stared at him for a moment, until Lance gently reminded him, "Remember that late Christmas present we brought you?"

"The replicator. Of course!" Schott shook his head. "Sorry, don't know why I forgot-"

"A lot's happened in the past 24 hours, General," Snart said. "A two-front battle against invading Nazis, Raymond's giant robot act, all of us nearly getting executed on live television… no wonder something fell through the cracks."

Schott snorted. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cold." He looked back up at the Gateway City monitor. "Ms. al Ghul, how long will it take you to get your refugees here?"

Nyssa looked offscreen and said something in Arabic. After getting a response, she said, " _Expect us in four days, General."_

"We can have the first replicator up and running, and get your people started on building more right away," Palmer offered. "Zari can help me with it, Captain."

"All right," Sara agreed. "And make sure she gets her leg looked at."

"Thank you, Captain Lance," Schott said as Palmer left the platform. He looked back up at the screen. "Ms. al Ghul, we'll be ready for you when you get here."

Nyssa bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. Then her focus shifted. " _Captain Sara Lance of Earth-1."_

* * *

This Nyssa had terrible scars on her face and throat. But she also had the same melting brown eyes Sara had fallen into after her own Nyssa had rescued her, all those years ago.

Nyssa tilted her head just a little. " _You look exactly like my Sara, but you are not like her. You are a better fighter than she ever got to be."_

"Your Sara never got a second tour with the League."

Nyssa nodded in agreement. " _That is true. But I can see another difference. My Sara was more hotheaded and impulsive. It is what got her captured and killed. And it is why I have these,"_ she said, touching one of her scars. " _But it seems you are much better than she was at understanding strategy. And you have learned to simply be more careful."_

Sara shrugged slightly. "I guess dying and getting resurrected will do that to you."

Nyssa's eyebrows went up. " _Indeed? Intriguing."_

"I don't know. My Nyssa wasn't too happy about it at first," Sara answered. "She destroyed the Lazarus Pit because of it."

"Your version of me let her do that?" Ra's asked.

Sara paused, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell this honorable man about how his counterpart had twisted the League on her Earth before dying at Oliver's hand. "It's a very, very long story."

" _Perhaps you can share it with me,"_ Nyssa said. " _Will you still be there when we arrive?"_

Sara paused again, thinking, then shook her head. "Four days… I'd like to, but we can't. We left some very important business behind on our Earth, and we need to get back to it, once we've got the replicators up and running."

" _A sense of responsibility,"_ Nyssa replied. " _Another difference from my Sara, I think. You have grown up. She never got the chance to."_

Nyssa sighed, tilting her head again. " _I think perhaps it is for the best that you will not be there. You are so like, and yet unlike, that I think it will be… painful to meet you in the flesh right now. I know that does not make much sense-"_

Sara chuckled, thinking of how she'd kissed Leo in the Waverider's library when he pushed her to open that box and release her long-hidden grief over Leonard. "Oh, I understand. Better than you know."

Nyssa smiled at that. " _Then it seems to me, Captain Sara Lance, that you are an amazing woman on any Earth. Perhaps we will meet someday, and you can tell me that long story. Until then - safe journey."_ Nyssa's gaze shifted to Ra's. " _Father, I will see you in four days."_

"Safe journey, my daughter. I am proud of you," Ra's answered. The screen went dark, and he turned to Sara. "So, Ta-er al-Sahfer, is this 'long story' something I should hear?"

Sara smiled, shaking her head again. "All you need to know is that you're a better man than my Ra's turned out to be."

"Even though I lead a league of killers?" he returned as they walked down the steps off the platform.

"They seem more like a league of soldiers to me. Soldiers using 500-year-old weapons, but still… soldiers," Schott said. "And a man who'll lead others in battle to avenge his daughter doesn't seem all that bad to me."

Ra's smiled slightly. "If it was only a matter of avenging Nyssa's injuries and Sara's death, I would have acted on my own and would not have involved the League."

"So it wasn't just personal," Leonard said, an observation more than a question.

"No, it was not," Ra's agreed. They were crossing the studio floor, toward where the two Nazi leaders and their demented game show host were now bound with the same handcuffs that had been used on the Resistance leaders earlier. Mick and Amaya were among the several guards watching them. Sara blinked in surprise when she recognized another of those guards; it was the show producer, now looking smug rather than harried.

And carrying a large… frying pan?

She raised her eyebrows and got an answering smirk from Mick. With a smile, she turned her focus back to Ra's, who was saying, "Men like these always need someone to conquer. It was only a matter of time before my people would be termed 'undesirables' and become targets."

"Haters gonna hate," Nate interjected.

"Are you quoting Taylor Swift?" Leonard asked incredulously.

Sara huffed, rolled her eyes, and motioned for Ra's to continue.

"While we are skilled in the art of killing, we do not have the means to withstand the technologies available to the Reich. At best, they would have put us under siege in Nanda Parbat and starved us. Our birthplace would become our tomb. I did not take the Demon's Head to rule over the end of the League," Ra's finished as they stopped in front of the prisoners.

"So, what now?" Schott asked.

"As I told my daughter Talia, we will hand the Reich forces over to your justice. Starting with these three," Ra's said, waving a hand toward the captives.

Jesse fell to his knees in front of them. "Mercy, please please please! They made me do it!" he cried, jerking his head back toward the two _Sturmbannführers._ "I never wanted to do all those things… they made me do it!"

"Come off it, Jesse, we all know better!" the producer said, brandishing his frying pan. Jesse cowered.

The Earth-X version of her father cleared his throat and stood up. "Get a hold of yourself, man. The groveling is disgusting," he said, giving Jesse a kick and getting a howl of pain from the little man. Lance turned to Schott, his pose ramrod straight. "I ask that I be allowed to choose the method of my execution," he said, while Jesse whimpered at his feet.

"Execution?" Schott snorted. "Without trial? What do you think we are? Nazis?"

Sara choked back a laugh while Snart growled, "They're weak! They don't have the guts to give us a clean death."

Schott didn't take the bait. "You will be taken to Slabside Prison to await trial as war criminals. And as to your punishment-"

"General, may I make a suggestion?" Ra's interjected. When Schott nodded at him, he said, "It is written, ' _When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.'"_

"Sun Tzu again," Sara murmured, while Mick asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Amaya chuckled. "It means you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." When Mick stared at her, still looking puzzled, she went on, "Give them a fair trial and the people who feared leaving the Reich will see there's nothing to fear."

Mick frowned thoughtfully. "So… don't kill 'em?"

Jesse suddenly stopped whimpering. "Right, that's right! Don't kill us! Don't kill us!" He cringed and drew back as the producer stepped closer with his frying pan.

Sara nodded. "As tempting as it would be to take revenge, sometimes life is a better punishment than death, General. Let them live to see the new world you build," she told Schott.

"A world where everyone is equal, no matter what their color or religion, and where strength is for aiding the weak," he mused, getting disgusted grunts from Lance and Snart. "Cold? One of them's your dad."

"He's Leo's dad," Leonard corrected. "But I think I can speak for him, and I like Sara's thinking here. And who knows? They might wind up becoming better men," he added. He shot a speaking look at Mick, who nodded back to him.

"' _The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.'_ Marcus Aurelius," Nate said. "You did have Marcus Aurelius here, right?"

"I prefer the wisdom of Sun Tzu," Ra's said. "' _It is easy to love your friend, but sometimes the hardest lesson to learn is to love your enemy.'"_

Snart let out a disdainful laugh. "You think you're better men. Love your enemy. Pah! You're all simpering, weak cowards-"

From the corner of her eye, Sara saw Leonard draw his cold gun from his holster. Once it was free, he hit Snart on the side of the head, knocking him unconscious again. Jesse barely managed to scramble out of the way as the older man fell.

Leonard smiled in satisfaction as he re-holstered the gun. "That's what we call 'tough love' back home."

"It seems… effective," Ra's observed. "General, my people can bring the prisoners to your facility." He took Lance by the arm. "I will see to this one personally," he said. After giving Sara a nod, he escorted the Nazi away.

Schott blew out a sigh. "Places for the refugees, staffing up Slabside, putting together a war crimes tribunal, setting up a provisional government..." he said, ticking the items off on his fingers. He sighed again. "And I thought running a war was hard work!"

"Peace can be even harder, General," Nate said.

Schott nodded and said, "I want to pick your brains a bit before you go back to Earth-1, Heywood. But in the meantime, can you folks help with…" He indicated the unconscious Snart and the still-cringing Jesse.

"Of course, General," Sara said. Schott nodded to her and strode off, still ticking tasks off on his fingers. Sara turned to her team. "Okay, guys, I need-"

Leonard interrupted with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You need to let your team handle it, Captain. Zari's not the only one who needs to have an injury checked."

Sara rolled her eyes. "I told you, they're just scratches."

The others exchanged amused glances. "Untreated scratches can get infected," Amaya pointed out in a light tone.

Nate nodded and added, "And those infections can be very serious. Abraham Lincoln II died of septicaemia from an infected carbuncle."

Sara blinked and stared at him. "You're making that up."

Nate laid his hand over his heart. "I'm not. Historian's honor! You can look it up."

Amaya chuckled, shaking her head. "Sara, go get some rest. We've got this."

"Besides, I always wanted to see what Slabside Prison looks like," Mick added. "Never know when we might have to break out of it!"

He winked at Leonard, then nudged Nate. "C'mon, Pretty. Help me get this guy's fat petard over to the transport," he said, and bent to grab one of Snart's arms.

Nate hesitated. "Mick, a petard isn't-"

"Less talking, more lifting!" Mick barked. Nate rolled his eyes and grabbed Snart's other arm so the two of them could start dragging him across the floor.

Amaya exchanged an amused look with Sara. "I'll keep an eye on them, Sara," she promised, taking hold of Jesse by one arm to haul him up off the floor. Jesse began to gibber at her, but subsided when the producer shook the frying pan at him again.

Satisfied with Jesse's compliance, the producer told Sara, "There's a first aid kit in the green room, right next door to the dressing room where they had you change." He pointed to a set of doors on the other side of the studio. "Just through those doors and down the hall to your right."

"Thanks, I remember," Sara said. The man nodded to her and helped Amaya march Jesse off.

Leonard was watching Mick and Nate drag Snart. She nudged him slightly, drawing his attention. "That must have been hard, telling them to let him live."

"Yeah, but… it would've been harder for Leo to tell them to let him die," he replied as they started toward the doors.

She looked sidelong at him. "So you made the choice for him."

He sighed. "Leo isn't like me, Sara. Killing Lewis in the heat of battle would have been one thing, but…"

"But watching him get put to death is something very different," Sara finished. "And you're right. Leo isn't like us. But you only met him yesterday. How did you know?"

"How do you think?" Leonard snorted. "His literal Ray of sunshine couldn't stop talking about him. 'Hero' is definitely on Leo's resume. But… it was more than that. Ray also told me about himself, and..."

He paused, considering his next words. "I've been in a few hellholes in my time, Sara, but this place was easily the worst. Despite that, despite everything the Nazis have done, despite everything the Resistance has lost, Ray Terrill is still an optimist and an idealist. That's rare enough in our world. This place needs it, and I didn't want anything to ruin it."

She smiled slightly. "You were protecting him. Them. Leonard, that was… sweet."

"I am not sweet, Assassin," he growled, stopping suddenly and pulling her in for a kiss that was anything but sweet. Demanding, possessive, just this side of rough - but she'd also seen the slight gleam of humor in his eyes before their lips met.

She grinned when he pulled back. "That's your story, Crook. But I'm not buying it."

"No?" When she shook her head, still grinning, he smiled back and said, "Maybe we can find a quiet spot where I can work on my sales pitch. You think there's a lock on that green room door?"

She raised up on her toes to kiss him again. "Let's go find out."

Hand in hand, they made their way toward the studio door. But halfway there, they both stopped at the sight of a little girl curled up in a pile of black stage draperies. Talia sighed in her sleep and rolled from her side to her back.

"Somebody needs to-" Sara began, looking back the way they'd come. But the Resistance fighters, assassins and Legends all seemed to be busy with something or other.

"I think 'somebody' is us, Sara," Leonard said, kneeling next to the girl. "C'mon, Squirt. This is no place for a nap," he said quietly as he lifted her gently. Talia sighed again and shifted her head against Leonard's shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow at Sara's smirk. "What?"

"You're never going to convince me that you're not sweet."

He sighed and started walking toward the studio door. "Just… don't tell anyone else." He paused for a beat, then added, "Especially not Raymond."

She chuckled as she walked beside him. "This'll stay between me and you."

* * *

For the second time in as many days, Leonard found himself at the edge of a party. But it was different this time. This wasn't just letting off steam between mop-up operations. With the Reich's remaining leadership - such as it was - now utterly defeated, the people of the Resistance were having a real celebration.

One that included, to his amusement, the two Rays attempting to teach them the Macarena.

He was distracted from that entertainment by Leo's arrival with a bottle of Scotch and a pair of glasses. "Zari and Red are trying to turn one of our computers into something called a 'karaoke machine.' From what Ray tells me about those contraptions, I think we're going to need a lot of liquor," Leo said, smiling. "What do you say to a little more of Queen's stash?"

No attempt to push him into the too-crowded-for-his-taste middle of things. Grateful for that, Leonard nodded, Leo poured, and the two men settled back to watch the festivities.

True to his word, Schott was talking with Heywood, trying to wring details out of the historian. Sara and Amaya were dancing with Talia and her fuzzy blue doll, while Raymond tried to drag Mick into the dance, getting a growl that was more bark than bite.

Leonard cast a few oblique glances Leo's way through all of this, marveling at the other man's simple joy in everything going on around him.

Leo noticed the glances and raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

Leonard smirked slightly as he set his glass down. "Just a little… how did you put it? Freaked out… over seeing my face smiling like that."

Leo laughed. "You haven't seen the way you look at Sara. Or Mick. Or even your Ray." He shook his finger at Leonard's scowl. "You may pretend that Raymond Palmer irritates the crap out of you, but you actually like the guy." He took another swallow of his Scotch. "I'd say your secret's safe with me, but like I said - you haven't seen the way you look at them."

Now it was Leonard's turn to raise an eyebrow as he poured himself another drink. "And just how do I look at them?"

Leo's smile softened. "Like you've found your way home," he answered. "And I don't just mean Earth-1. You've found your way back to the people you love."

* * *

"Thanks for watching out for him."

Sara smiled up at Ray Terrill, who had snagged her for a dance when the music changed to something slower. "Right back at you," she replied. "Knowing Leonard, I have a feeling you had a harder time of it than I did."

He chuckled, then his expression turned more serious. "Listen, Sara, I wanted to ask a favor."

"Name it."

He reached into his jacket and drew out a small envelope. "Would you get this to my parents in Tulsa?"

Sara's smile softened. "Of course."

She reached to take it, but he held it back just a little. "I should warn you - they think I'm dead."

Sara chuckled. "Been there, Ray. Twice. I get it."

Terrill nodded slightly. "But that's not all. Um… they don't know that I'm gay."

"Been there, too," she answered, laying a hand on his chest as they continued to sway together. "You sure you don't want to just go home and talk to them?"

He shrugged a little in concession. "I will, when things are a little more settled. I can't just run out on this place yet. But I don't want to leave my parents in the dark, either. And before I do go home, I want them to know…" He trailed off uncertainly.

"You want them to know you're bringing home your boyfriend," Sara finished for him.

"Fiance," he corrected, handing her the envelope.

Sara nodded. "Right. Congratulations again."

A bright smile this time. Leonard was right; Ray Terrill was a literal ray of sunshine. "Thanks. I figure it's better to give them a warning instead of just springing it on them that they're going to be in-laws… and grandparents."

Sara stopped and stared at him while his smile got even brighter. "We're adopting Talia," he explained as Leo and Leonard joined them on the dance floor.

Her eyes widened. "That's… a bold move!" she finally stammered while Terrill stepped back.

Leo grinned, dropping an arm around his boyfriend's… _fiance's_ shoulders. "It is. But we thought it was time for…" He paused, considering his words.

"A new adventure?" Sara asked as Leonard stretched his own arm across her shoulders.

"A new adventure," Leo agreed.

"I kind of like the sound of that," Sara said, looking up at Leonard. "What do you think?"

Before Leonard could answer, the music changed again, and the two of them laughed as some familiar chords echoed through the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her team smiling at them. Mick wore the biggest grin; unsurprising, since he knew the story that went with this particular song.

"I think we never quite finished our last adventure," Leonard drawled, turning to face her.

She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "We did beat Savage."

"Not that that one, Assassin. I'm talking about finding out what the future holds for me and you." He held a hand out to her. "Wanna dance, Sara?"

She smiled and moved into his arms. As they swayed to the Captain and Tennille, she decided it didn't matter whether this was the start of a new adventure or just a continuation of the old one.

All that mattered was that they were together.

* * *

Three replicators were now up and running (with hangover pills being their most popular product) when Sara's team gathered to return home the next morning. A small crowd had gathered to bid them farewell, including Schott and the Freedom Fighters.

Leo drew his cold gun from its holster and presented it to Leonard, who blinked in surprise. "Take it," Leo urged. "I don't know how effective ice grenades will be against a demon, but…"

"I'll let you know," Leonard answered, taking the gun to examine and… caress it. Sara smirked at the sight. _Boys and their toys._

Leo turned to Mick as if to hug him, but restrained himself when Mick put up a warning hand and settled for a fist bump instead. "It was cool kicking Nazi petard with you guys again," Mick said.

Ray, who had no problem giving Leo a hug, shook his head. "Mick, buddy, that word doesn't mean what you think it does. A petard is-"

Mick waved him off. "Don't care, Haircut!"

Nate chuckled. "I'm gonna miss you, Mick."

Mick chuckled with him for a second, then frowned. "What are you talking about, Pretty?" he demanded, while the other Legends stared at the historian.

"Mr. Heywood has offered to stay here, to help us create a better world," Schott said.

Amaya gasped softly. "Nathaniel..."

Nate reached out to touch Amaya's shoulder hesitantly before meeting Sara's eyes. "I realized it last night when I was talking with General Schott. They have so much they have to do, and no real blueprint for how to get started. Who better than a historian to help them get it right?"

"I want to argue with you, but…you're right," Ray sighed. "Gonna miss you."

Nate pulled the other man in for one of their "bro hugs."

Sara held her hands up. "Just wait a minute!" She needed time to process this.

Gently, Nate said, "Sara, I've had the time of my life with you guys on the Waverider, fixing things that went wrong throughout history-"

"And sometimes screwing things up for the better," Zari added.

Nate snorted, nodding in agreement. "But you don't need me to fight Mallus."

"Mallus is a time demon who will break free if history gets messed up!" Sara objected. "If we don't have a historian-"

"You have Gideon," Nate pointed out. "She knows everything you need. And you have the Time Bureau-" he smirked at Sara's irritated huff, "even if Agent Sharpe has a stick up her-"

Sara rolled her eyes. "Nate!"

"You know he's right, Boss," Mick said, while Ray nodded fervently.

Nate grinned. "And if they can't help, those cool interdimensional communicators mean I'm just a phone call away."

He stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders, the grin dropping away. "Captain, you really don't need me to fight Mallus. But these people-" he nodded at the Earth-Xers around them, "they need me."

She studied his earnest blue eyes for a moment, then sighed and nodded. His smile returned. "All right!" he said, then glanced over at Leonard. "Will he freeze me if I try to hug you?"

Leonard rolled his eyes. Laughing, Sara shook her head and wrapped her arms around Nate for a long hug, then stepped back to allow the rest of the team to take their turns.

Amaya was the last. "You know, your grandfather would be very proud of you," she said to him softly. "I know I am."

Sara smiled and turned away to allow the one-time lovers a little bit of privacy. "Take care of him," she said quietly to Schott.

"Of course, Captain Lance," Schott said, reaching out for a handshake. "And… thank you again. If it hadn't been for all of you, I don't know where we'd be."

"It was our pleasure," Sara answered. She nodded to Ray to signal for the portal. As the breach opened, Amaya moved to Sara's side and Nate to Schott's. Both wore watery smiles.

"The breach back to STAR Labs is ready, Captain," Ray said.

Sara nodded. "Go ahead. We'll be right behind you."

Ray and Zari moved toward the portal, but stopped when Leonard snapped his fingers and said, "Raymond! Don't tell Team Flash that I'm coming with you. Let's surprise them back there."

"That might just give Nerd-boy a heart attack," Mick said.

Leonard smiled wickedly. "I know."

Mick considered it, then laughed and nodded. "Okay, Boss." He stepped between Ray and Zari, grabbing the scientist by the arm. "Not a word, Haircut!" he said before dragging the other man into the breach. Zari rolled her eyes at the others, then nodded to Amaya. The two women stepped through together.

"Nerd-boy…" Leo said thoughtfully. "You mean Cisco?" When Leonard nodded, he asked, "Why would you want to torment Cisco Ramon?"

"You mean besides the fact that he's a nerd and it's fun?" Leonard asked archly. "He kissed Lisa."

"Ah. I see." Leo thought about that for a moment, then waved an assenting hand. "Torment away!"

"Thanks for the permission," Leonard chuckled.

Leo laughed and opened his arms to Sara, who hugged him warmly. He kissed her forehead and murmured, "Don't forget what I told you. Feelings are nothing to be afraid of."

He released her and met his double's gaze. "Take care of each other."

Leonard motioned between Leo and Ray. "You two do the same." After they nodded, he looked down at Sara, offered his arm and said, "Ready to go home, Assassin?"

She slipped her arm through his. "You bet."

They took a step toward the breach, but then Sara paused. "Hang on." She looked back. "Hey, Leo - about your wedding present. Should we get you a pot or a kettle?"

Leo laughed heartily. Then, wiping his eyes, he said, "Your choice, Sara. Just - don't put it in a box!"

"Deal!" Sara replied with a smile. Then she nodded to Leonard, and together they stepped through the breach - back to Earth-1, and whatever the future might hold.

Three months later, among their wedding presents, Leo and Ray found two gift bags from Sara and Leonard.

One held a steel blue cooking pot; the other, a bright yellow tea kettle.

They didn't stop laughing for an hour.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I hope you have had as much fun reading this as I have had writing it! I do have one more story in my head for this continuity.


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